


One Last Time

by Fallen_Ark_Angel



Series: Remember Me [53]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:41:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23403169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallen_Ark_Angel/pseuds/Fallen_Ark_Angel
Summary: Farewell trips were never meant to be this sour. Or bloody.
Relationships: Laxus Dreyar/Mirajane Strauss
Series: Remember Me [53]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/209921
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

It was sticky out. The kind that came after a light, early spring shower, where the rain was a bit cold, but wouldn't last long, and you were only inconvenienced in the smallest of ways. The rain came and went in the early morning hours, being out before ten, even, but it was watched closely by Haven Dreyar, who paced around the tiny apartment she shared with her boyfriend in slight annoyance, twinged with some anticipation, and mostly, absolute annoyance at the fact said dumb boyfriend couldn't be bothered to get out of bed already.

He'd stayed up the whole night before practically, Locke had, out getting some last minute pointers from his father Gajeel. Haven, who was barred from this meeting, only sneered at him and remarked that maybe he should be meeting with _her_ father, who was actually an S-Class wizard and could provide real, non-failure insight, to which Locke called her bluff and said they'd head on over to the Dreyar place and, yeah, no fucking way.

So she was already in bed when he crawled into it sometime after midnight, her griping a bit over the late hour, but Locke was snoring within minutes.

Which bugged the fuck outta her.

Why wasn't he as nervous as her?

Or as hyped up?

Concerned?

Locke's easy going attitude always bothered her, but hell, it fully ticked her off then.

Everything always worked out until it didn't.

After waiting for so long, being delayed for so long, Haven was beyond elated for the second half of the S-Class trials to commence. She wasn't a participant. No. She didn't imagine she'd ever be, honestly. But Locke was. And once he scorched his dumb competition, then they would leave Magnolia together for once, to hopefully assist in some Bosco rebel shit. Haven wasn't really sure what was awaiting them, but they were going together and that's all that mattered.

Assuming he took this seriously and didn't fuck it up.

Locke wasn't known for fucking things up, but Haven didn't trust such important tasks with anyone other than herself.

"I made," she finally came to shake (more like shove) the man awake, glaring down at him as she said, "you breakfast. Come eat."

Locke only moaned though, blinking at her sleepily as he said, "How 'bout somethin' better than breakfast? Send me on my way well- Ow, Haven."

She slugged him, as he'd sat up with a yawn, to which he responded by shoving her, causing her to stumble backwards over the stack of magical tomes that set beside the bed, and then he was glaring down at her with the same ferociousness he was glaring up.

But Haven wasn't mad about being pushed.

Oh, no.

He'd suffer for that later.

"You're not," Haven growled back at him, "taking this seriously enough! Everything hinges on this. Everything. And you're sleeping late, you stayed out all night, and-"

"Are you okay?" Locke was moving to get up then, but only so he could drag her to her feet as well. "I'm sorry. Here-"

"You have to eat," she was continuing to grip as he literally pulled her up before patting at the top of her head in concern. Still, Haven didn't relent in her glares. "If you don't eat, then you'll be hungry, and then-"

"Well, you did make it, so I guess I better-"

"Forget about me!" She pounded one hand into another. "Forget about everyone. The only thing you gotta worry about is conquering that island. If you fuck this up, Locke, I'll… I'll do something."

"Find something new to obsess over?"

"Don't," she ordered simply then, a finger in his face, making him reconsider ever allowing her to move in to begin with, "fuck this up, Locke. Do you hear me?"

He only made a face before grabbing her finger and tossing it away. Yawning again, he walked around her then as he questioned, "Did you make waffles?"

"Locke-"

"Aw, you're so sweet," he congratulated when he found them in the kitchen. "Have. Making my favorite. You really think of me?"

Sulking, she trailed after him. "Did you even do any last minute training? Or anything? Wtih your dad?"

"Yep."

"Are you...going to tell me about it?"

"Nope."

"Locke-"

"Haven," he found himself frowning finally as she joined him in the kitchen. Covering his waffles in copious amounts of generous syrup, he told her simply, "I am already internally freaking out, alright? This has been my dream since I was a little boy. I'm trying to keep it in check. I have to keep it in check. But you are freaking me out. So just cool it, okay?"

She stood beside him then, her own stomach growling a bit before giving in and snagging the plate she made herself from the counter as well.

They ate how they liked to, with their backs up against the couch and the plates on the coffee table before them. For all Locke had said about not being hungry, he was very busy devouring his meal while Haven only picked at her own.

"I just," Haven muttered softly, "am nervous. That's all."

"Don't be," he told her. "Things always have a way of-"

"Don't," she retorted, "finish that sentence, Locke. I mean it."

He grinned sheepishly at her then before saying, "I can only do the best I can do. And I know you're just nervous and all, but c'mon, Haven, don't lie; you're excited too."

Of course she was.

But her excitement always bled into torturing those around her. It was how she burned off excess energy.

"We should get down to the hall soon," she went on instead of answering. "Before-"

"The ship from Hargeon doesn't leave until sundown," he pointed out. "And Dad said I shouldn't spend the day training or exerting myself. Just try and not panic. I need to conserve all that for the trials."

Nodding some, she glanced over from her waffles then with a bit of a raised eyebrow as she said, "I mean...if we really do have hours...then I guess we could fuck."

Locke made a face, at first at her bluntness, but then was quick to mask it some by shrugging. "I mean, after such a big breakfast...and I'm only half way done-"

But Haven called his bluff with a shrug and a, "Never mind then," which meant Locke had to quickly counter it before the opportunity passed them by.

"One sec," he assured her before literally gulping down the rest of his stack of waffles in one massive, gross bite.

"That," the woman told him simply, "was the least attractive thing I've ever seen you do."

As Locke reached for his glass of orange juice on the table, he managed to choke enough down before assuring her, "It was really ill-advised. Don't do that."

"Well, I'm not an idiot, so don't worry."

It was nearing two in the afternoon when the pair found themselves arriving at the guildhall, where Lcoke's parents were to wish him well, Levy kind of embarrassing him a bit (or at least Haven felt embarrassed for him; Locke was too much of a dope for that emotion), while his father continued to riddle him with a different ideas and strategies.

"Ain't ever see no fuckin' medic do no good on no fuckin' trails," Gajeel grumbled to which his wife frowned with a retort of her own.

"And I've never seen so many double negatives at once," she told him as Locke only ran a hand through his hair and Pantherlily snickered.

Haven, at the man's side, rolled her eyes before saying, "It's not like you know a lot about doing good on the trials anyways."

And it was easy enough for the slayer's eyes to become dark as they clashed with Haven's, but Locke tossed an arm over her shoulders and led her away, thanking his parents for their well wishes over his shoulder.

"I really don't need you and my dad fighting to hang over my head while I'm gone, Haven," Locke complained as he led her away from his parents table, but she was already focused in on her next victim.

Well, victim was a strong word.

Innocent bystander was far more Marin's title these days. Not that she was aware of her sister's potential motives in that moment. Oh, no. She was actually rather upset for reasons that had nothing to do with Haven.

And the week had started so strong…

Erza was even more excited about this upcoming set of trials, where she got to see the prowess of the future, she claimed, and Marin had spent hours assisting the woman in setting up that year. From going over plans and challenges, Marin was getting a front row seat to something she was so very distant from, it felt more like observation than active participation.

"One day," Erza told her more than once, "I imagine it will be you that I will be pushing to their wits end on the island."

And though Marin internally was shaking her head at this statement, she would only fall silent now, in what Erza took as deep consideration. She couldn't imagine ever being ranked among the elite, Marin couldn't, no matter how many times she tussled with Natsu or the Master's other high ranking friends. She was rather comfortable in her place behind the bar. Only the most important of circumstances could drag her away from it.

"I wanted to be happy for you, Locke, and everyone, honestly. The only reason I came in today was to wish you all well," Marin told him softly when, upon approaching where the teen was busing a table, he was quick to question what was eating at her. The girl never did wear her emotions well. Unloading on him, she looked on the verge of tears as she said, "But I just really need to get out of here. I am getting out of here. Master told me that I could take the few days you all will be gone on the trials as a vacation of my own, but I wasn't going to go through with it; not until I found out about… And now I have no choice, but to-"

"Hold on, hold on." Locke held up a hand with a frown. "Found out about what, Marin?"

"O-Oh, I thought you knew. Kai-"

"I forgot to tell him." Haven slid over to side with her sister then, patting sympathetically at the girl's arm as she addressed her boyfriend then and he looked on suspiciously. "Kai and his boyfriend broke up. Kai's real broken up, but, you know, what can you do? He's stuck in that guild. So Marin here, what a trooper, she's gonna go visit him-"

"It's terrible," Marin remarked with teary eyes. "He's heartbroken."

Locke's tone was one of pity then as he assured her, "Well, tell him I'm sorry. I didn't know. They really seemed to like one another."

"They loved," Marin corrected, "one another."

"Oh, Marin, don't be so dramatic." Haven shook her head. "Who stays with the first person they fall in love with? Much less date?"

"Haven," Locke warned, but she only made a face.

"You dated other people before me," she retorted.

"I didn't love anyone as much," he pointed out. "And you didn't date other people before me. Or love anyone. At all."

"Don't be so presumptuous."

"Haven-"

"I," she interrupted him with a frown. "am trying to comfort my little sister here, Locke."

"I don't need to be comforted." Marin didn't shake Haven off. "I'm just worried about Kai."

"Breakups are hard," Locke assured her then with a nod. "And he'll probably feel loads better about it with you there."

"Please, Marin's never broken up with someone before." When Haven felt her younger sister's eyes, the blonde only insisted, "You haven't. I told you, that's why I'm going to accompany you-"

"You," her boyfriend retorted, "have never done it either. You just run away and- Wait. What did you just say?"

"Oh. Yeah." Haven tossed a hand at him. "I'm going with Marin down to the other coast to, uh, go give Kai a pep talk and all that."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"It happened so fast, Locke."

"Marin, when did you find out that Kai and Lance broke up?" Locke asked then.

"W-Well, a few days ago-"

"Haven," he started again before the girl could finish, but Haven's groan out voiced him.

"Locke," she complained right back. "You're going out of town for a few days. What did you want me to do? Sit around the apartment and miss you?"

"I mean, it would be nice."

"Marin is my baby sister." She moved to hug the teen to her then while Marin looked uneasily up at her older sister. "And she and Kai have some sort of weird, psychic connection that creeps me the fuck out, but means if he's in pain, she's in pain. So I have to go and fix this. Duh. Idiot."

Locke only narrowed his eyes "I don't know what you're really doing-"

"Being a better person. Like I have been. For months."

"-but it's really fucked that you're using Kai's pain for your own gain."

"Maybe," Haven retorted as she tossed Marin from her then, just so she could go glare up into Locke's dark red eyes, "you could try trusting me, Locke. I'm not going to put myself, or Marin, or Kai, into any danger or a situation I can't handle."

"I don't like this preface."

"You just need to worry about the trials, okay?" And her face softened then as she reached a hand up to pat at his cheek. "And I'll go worry about fixing the two of them. C'mon, Locke, don't you trust me? At all?"

But he only leaned down then, keeping her gaze as he remarked simply, "No."

Sour now, Haven replied, "Well, that's shitty of you."

"If you're going to mock or ridicule either one of them-"

"Have you gotten to know the new Haven at all? I'd never do that." Openly. Or to Locke in private. "I'm going to go be the older sister I nearly missed out on being and you go become S-Class. Alright?"

And he was close enough now that it was easy for Haven to lean up only slightly, stealing a quick kiss. When Locke looked back to where Marin ahd been, he found her back busy busing the table and only sighed.

"When does your first train for the coast leave?" he asked.

"Really soon after my shift," she told him as she was moving on then. Over her shoulder, she added, "So, about an hour?"

"What?" He turned his glare back onto Haven. "You're not even going to see me off at Hargeon?"

"You're a big boy, Locke. And I'm not your fucking mother. Weirdo."

"Haven-"

"I'll go deal with my shit," she told him simply then, definitively, and any argument was dead before it even escaped his lips, "and you go take care of yours. Alright?"

He had no choice, but to agree though he was clearly pissed at her, when they made the walk together back to the apartment, each to fetch their packs, but with different directions.

Haven kissed him goodbye at the train station, which was completely perverse, considering she should be doing so on the docks, in a few more hours, but Locke played along well enough.

"I love you," he told her, and he meant it, he always did, but she could still hear the slight anger in his voice. "Haven. And I'll see you when I get back."

"No," she corrected with a look as they separated. "I'll see you when you're S-Class. If you're not, then don't come home."

"Haven-"

"I'm kidding. Mostly," she assured him with a roll of her eyes as Locke was then moving to pat Marin on the head and promise her that things would work out for Kai, with or without his boyfriend. Haven only crossed her arms though, watching for a moment before saying, "I love you too, Locke."

And he nodded his head, the one left standing again, alone, when she and her sister disappeared onto a train. Alone. He knew that she was right though, Haven was, in her own way.

He had his duty laid before him now and there was only one way to come back; as S-Class.

But Haven seemed less worried now, on the train with her sister, than she had been for the entire morning. They seemed to have changed positions, a transfer of energy perhaps, with her leaving Locke to worry and dread what was laid before him while Haven seemed rather carefree and, maybe, even a bit...excited?

Marin knew the latter expression from her sister was never good and, as they boarded their second train that afternoon, she questioned, "Are you not even worried, Haven? About Locke?"

"He'll be fine." She did reach up then though, to toy with the necklace he'd bought for her that last winter,. "He can literally raise the dead. Practically. As long as he keeps an eye on his magic, paces himself, then I know he'll be fine."

Nodding a bit, Marin offered, "You're confident in him."

"Enough so that I didn't even try and manipulate you into innocuously tricking Erza and insuring it was all rigged in his favor." Her eyes were alight though, as she looked into her sister's similar ones. "Or did I?"

Stricken, the younger woman asked through a breathless whisper, "Did you?"

"No." And Haven seemed disappointed now, falling into her seat,. "But damn, I should have."

She did seem rather tense though, Haven did, around sundown, and spent more time staring out the window than saying much at all. Not that it mattered. Marin had her own stressful situation working her into a tizzy.

Both her parents, who she'd gone to the day before, to lament to, maybe, just a bit, as Erza was so busy and she didn't want to bog down by mentioning the breakup (it had been Kai's tearful, selfless request), cautioned her a bit about getting involved.

"Kai's a damn man," Laxus had grumbled when Marin came by with lunch from the bar for the man and his wife. While Mirajane made a face at him, the slayer only sighed some and said, "If he's hurting, Mar, I doubt you'll make him feel much better. Love hurt is a different kinda hurt."

"But if he asked for you," Mirajane assured her, "then you go. He's your best friend. I just don't know about you going alone, is all."

Marin had nodded down at her plate before saying, "Trains make me a little sick now, because of, well… And I was nervous about it too, but luckily, Haven offered to go with me."

"Haven," the girl's father remarked dryly, "offered to go with you. To see Kai. Who is going to be a wreck about his relationship." At Marin's nod, he frowned more and questioned, "And you agreed?"

"Laxus-"

"Mira, you know as well as me that-"

"Haven's going to be missing Locke for a few days," his wife pointed out. "She'll be uptight and antsy if she sits around Magnolia the whole time. Or too unfocused to go out on a job. I'm sure she won't admit it, but she's probably just going so she can get away too. Clear her mind and keep busy without being too far, if Locke gets back early."

Laxus only shook his head though, keep the rest of his thoughts to himself as, clearly, the women didn't want to hear them. It was just as well, anyways. Though Haven had started staying on her own at she and Locke's place, when he was out, she was still prone to occasionally crashing with Marina and with her away, well…

It's not that Laxus and Mirajane minded Haven staying over with them. At all. But, uh, maybe it was a special night of the week that would fall on those few days.

Maybe.

Haven avoided this unfortunate knowledge, however, as she journeyed with her sister to the opposite coast, which was beautiful and glittered, the entire city did, with sparkling lights to illuminate the night sky. If Haven were the kind of person to care about such a thing, she might have called it beautiful.

She was, however, not.

"Kai said to meet him at his house," Marin sighed as they left the station, their packs slung over their backs. Haven hadn't ever traveled, not really, with her little sister, especially not since she started training, and was rather impressed with how well she fought her motion sickness. "It's down by the beach. Come on."

She let Marin take the lead, Haven did, even though she was half starved and was tempted to diverge their path a bit, just to grab some food. But Marin was clearly worried and upset and the sooner she could get to Kai, the better.

He was sitting outside his house, actually, out on the front porch step with someone, but saw the women as they approached and was quick to jump up.

"Oh, Kai." Marin came to toss her arms around him immediately, feeling tearful all over again. "Are you alright?"

But he was laughing, Kai was, as he hugged her tightly back. "Yeah, Marin, I'm-"

"I can't believe," she went on as, slowly, he released her and she took to shaking her head some, "that you guys broke up. Are yiou… Are you still going to stay here? All alone? On the coast? Because if you need a place to stay-"

"Marin." Kai looked to Haven then. "I, uh, might have some good news. Well, actually, yeah, I do. Great news. Lance and I didn't break up! Surprise!"

Marin didn't jump along with him, in excitement, like the guy had hoped. She only stood there, her tears drying in her eyes while she stared at him in confusion.

"Kai, what?"

"Lance and I are as tight as ever," he assured her. "But I knew the only way to get you down here-"

"Was to lie to me? Kai, are you insane?" And it was there, inside of the girl now. The woman. She'd become a dragon slayer, was the daughter of one, but oh, the she-devil resided just as much inside of her. Buried far more, but still present. "Why would you do that? I've been worried sick about- I got sick, on that stupid train, just to get here- Haven missed seeing Locke off today. Just for you. What-"

"Haven asked me to do it!" Kai had never had Marin mad at him. Annoyed, maybe, pissy, constantly, but her tone felt far too much like Erza then for his taste. "She practically made me do it! You think I wanted to do it? Lie to you?"

"Why would Haven-"

"Your friend," the blonde told her sister simply, "owed me a favor. Isn't that right, Kai?"

"Heh." He scratched at the back of his head. "One that doesn't need to really be mentioned, but-"

"What are you two talking about?" Marin never had rightly be keyed into everything that went down on the gauntlet (or following), and only stared between the two of them then. "Why-"

"For the record," came another voice, from over at the porch, where finally the other person seated there stood, just to stomp out the cigarette they'd been smoking before, "I had nothing to do with lying to you, Marin. At all."

She'd been so focused in on Kai before, Marin had, that she didn't even consider the other man sitting beside him. But now, hearing his voice, she didn't even need him to knock the hood off his head to know exactly who stood before her.

"Ravan," she whispered as he stared blankly over at her. Taking a step away from Kai then, Marin looked to Haven with a dark gaze now. "What exactly is going on?"

But her older sister only grinned, that sickening one that had been knocked off her face for far too many months. Over a year, maybe. Death had a way of doing that.

It was back now though and if everything went as planned, Haven never intended on letting it slip away again.

"Just some unfinished business," Haven assured her sister while the teen glare then, at all three of them.

Because, as she eyed the look Haven and Ravan shared then, Marin knew it was never that easy.

Not between the two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five chapters? And a separate, one-shot epilogue? Anyone?


	2. Chapter 2

The temperatures dropped on the coast that evening, low enough that as they sat around a fire pit in front of Kai's house, Haven found herself rifling through her pack a bit.

"Locke," she griped to Marin, maybe, but seemed to pose it to all those about then as she pulled a dark hoodie from the bag, "tried to take this with him. To a freaking island. Idiot. So I stole it from his bag. He's so selfish." Haven hardly cared that no one was really paying attention to her as, along with the hoodie, something else tumbled out of the bag causing her to make a face. "He also didn't need his sunglasses."

Everyone was seemed to be in a rather down mood other than her. Ravan because, well, he only existed to be brooding, Marin because she was upset over being duped, and Kai because he just couldn't stand it, when the other teen was upset with him. There was a weird energy, mostly due to Marin acting somewhat like a human being for once, rather than a smiley, bubbly fake moron and, though she didn't plan on hanging around long, Haven was definitely into it.

"He didn't need," Ravan finally spoke when it was clear no one else was going to call the blonde out on her bullshit, "sunglasses. On the island."

"I," Haven remarked as she moved to slide them to the top of her head, "need them. I mean, not right now, but tomorrow morning-"

"I can't believe you lied to me, Kai." Marin was stewing still, as she glared into the fire. The other teen had tried to sit close to her, but Marin shifted away from him, immediately. Now, as he turned to look at her with round eyes, she still refused to give him her gaze. "Haven lies all the time. But you made me come all the way out here, Kai, skip work-"

"Old Haven," the blonde in question complained then with a frown, "lied. I've told nothing, but the truth since coming back."

Ravan, once more, waited for Kai or Marin to jump in, to call her on this, but once again, they were too caught up in their own drama.

"You lied," the man griped as Haven was busy tugging on the hoodie then, "to get here."

"You don't know that, Ravan. You don't know anything about me."

"So Locke knows that you're here for-"

"Locke," she told him as her head poked through the hole and she was glaring over at him, "knows what he needs to know. He's busy with the trials; I'm not going to fill his head with things right before. But when I get back-"

"I don't like when you're mad at me." Kai couldn't take the silence anymore. Still staring over at Marin, he said, "I'm sorry I lied. But I owed Haven and she knew that I could get in contact with Ravan and-"

"Why did you even drag me into it then?"

"I didn't!" Kai continued to insist. "Haven did. I don't know why she-"

"If Locke gets back before me," Haven told them then with a shrug, "I don't want him coming after me. If he thinks I'm here dealing with you guys dumb drama shit, then he won't."

Marin was still just glaring then, into the fire, but did manage to ask, "What are you trying to hide from him?"

Kai looked to his brother then, who glared at him for it, but Haven only shook her head.

"I'm not hiding anything from him, Marin," her older sister insisted. "And I'm not asking you to keep any of this a secret. When we get back to Magnolia, I'm going to tell him everything. But this is just something that I have to do without him. But if he knew what I was doing, there's no way he'd let me. Sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission."

Marin didn't like this and was going to say something, but Ravan cut her off then, as he laughed heavily into the night, jumping up from around the fire.

"You ask permission now? From your little boyfriend?" He was finishing a cigarette out of his pocket while turning his back on them and walking off. "Bullshit."

But instead of arguing, she only seemed to glare after him now as she said, "Don't fucking wander off. We're leaving before dawn."

She got no response, but it didn't matter much. He hadn't come all this way to get left behind.

Lance came around not soon after that, carrying some fresh fish for them to roast over the fire. He felt the tension between Kai and Marin easily enough and could only make a face at his boyfriend, who he'd more than assured this would not go over well.

At all.

But Haven felt no regard for the seeds she'd sown, and spoke amicably enough to Lance, who seemed to be trying to interact with the one person that wasn't being super awkward. He didn't know Haven too well, had only met her once, and she never seemed to be too big a fan of Kai, but between her sister, who he never rightly liked to begin with, and Kai, who was trying to look as pitiful as possible, the blonde felt like the easiest choice.

That didn't mean it was strange though. Lance knew everything about the situation that Kai did, which was next to nothing. He'd been contacted by Haven originally, only a week or so ago, with a list of tasks. When Lance questioned why he'd ever help out Haven in the first place, his boyfriend only tossed a head behind his head and muttered something about it being a favor for his older brother as well. Sort of.

"Plus," Kai had insisted at the time, "I really do wanna see Marin. And Haven's right; she won't leave while Erza isn't around if she doesn't feel like it's important. She deserves a break. And I miss her..."

But his ploy was biting him in the ass rather early. Like most of Kai's schemes, honestly.

Still, Lance didn't know enough about Haven to fear her (or, at least, what he did know to fear about her, he didn't quite believe) and felt the only one brave enough over dinner that night, around the fire pit, to question her openly.

"What are you even doing with Kai's brother?" Lance asked her as they stared at one another through the flames. "Where are you guys going?"

Neither Kai nor Marin expected much a response, honestly, given she was prone to mind games, but surprisingly, around practically licking her plate clean, Haven gave the teen a rather solid answer.

"I have a demon inside of me," she told them all simply and, though both Kai and Marin (as well as Lance, to a certain extent) were aware of this, something about her tone felt rather chilling in the late hour. "And I've spent long enough trying to coax it out. After Locke gets back, we're going to Bosco whether I'm ready or not. I want my magic to be under my control. My complete control. So I'm going to find it."

As Kai and Lance exchanged looks, Marin seemed to snap out of her funk, if only momentarily, to look over at her sister in horror as she questioned, "You're not going to try and go back on the gauntlet...are you? Haven? Because I won't let you."

She smiled then, Haven did, but it looked almost haunting in the fire light as she assured her younger sister, "I'm not. But believe me, Marin; you couldn't if you wanted to."

Marin felt challenged then, if not somewhat uneasy, before saying, "I'd get Dad."

"Didn't you last time?"

"H-Haven-"

"It has nothing to do with the dumb gauntlet anyways. Not really." Haven even shook her head some. "Locke's going to prove himself as S-Class and I'm going to prove I'm ready to go with him. This is my trial; I'm not going to fuck it up."

Kai and Lance didn't have much in their tiny, one bedroom house, but they did offer what they could. Haven let Marin take the couch, while after claiming she'd take a sleeping bag on the floor, but it wasn't lost on Marin when she got up less than an hour after settling out, heading back to the front porch.

Marin thought she was going to take off or something, but as she laid on the couch fighting sleep, she eventually heard Ravan arrive back and though she couldn't make out everything, they were talking in rather hushed tones.

The air felt damp that evening, and, along with making her thankful for her stolen hoodie, it also almost made Haven venture back inside so many times. Almost. But for some reason, she remained, waiting. On him.

And everyone knew how much she hated that act.

She saw Ravan's cigarette, dangling from his lips like usual, long before she saw him. Just a glowing red dot in the distance that eventually, as he drew closer, began to illuminate his facial features. His slow pace, however, slouched and unhurried, gave Haven plenty of time to rack her brain for the perfect opening sentence, the first words truly spoken between the two of them since her birthday over the winter, and even then, perhaps the first without the tense understanding of who they were being spoken around.

Their only interactions following their ill-fated attempt at the Monster Gauntlet had been done within the confines of Magnolia, if not the Fairy Tail grounds, which put them both on edge, even months removed from the demon incident.

This felt neutral, finally. Not them being forced together, either by circumstance or her well-meaning sister's planning, but rather because they chose to be. Haven had reached out to him (not directly, but through Kai) and that meant to Ravan that, you know, it was finally time.

For them to talk.

About everything.

"Do you ever worry that that dumb bandanna aorund your neck is going to catch on fire and burn you up? Or do your ugly lacrima scars make you think, you know, fuck it? What's a few burn marks too?"

Or nothing.

Yeah, they were probably going to talk about nothing.

Ravan held in a sigh though as he joined Haven on the porch. She'd risen to her feet as the sight of him, meaning they stood together now, him smoking and her on edge, waiting for him to volley back at her with something. But he didn't. He wasn't in that sort of mood. Which, considering he had all of two, meant he was in his other one; quiet and sulky. Both had their benefits (and their downfalls), but this one benefited Haven in the moment as she wanted to be able to speak without interruption.

"I don't know what Kai told you," she began finally while Ravan only looked off, despondent, "about what I wanted you for, but… I didn't want to do this alone. But everyone else fucking sucks and you owe me too, don't you, Ravan? Just like your dumb brother. So you're going to go with me, I'm going to get what I need, and then we're going to go our separate ways. Forever probably. I'm going to go do something important, like helping free people in Bosco, while you follow your fake mom's dumb boyfriend around pretending to save the world. Alright?"

He took in a long drag then, Ravan did, before moving to pluck the cigarette from his mouth just to ask, "Thought you were playing nice now?"

"I've always been nice," Haven countered. "To people who deserve it. Now I'm just pandering to you morons who don't."

"Don't sound too nice right now."

"Waiting will do that to someone."

Ravan conceded then, sticking the cigarette back into his mouth, but he only had another few drags left before he dropped it between the two of them and stamped it out.

"I asked you to go somewhere with me. To get stronger. Once." He looked at her then with his blank gaze. "Didn't turn out so well for you."

"I prove that I'm stronger than death," she retorted before holding up her dominate hand, allowing a soft purple glow to ooze from her finger tips. "The gauntlet did what I needed it to. I am fucking stronger."

He nodded then, Ravan did, before asking, "Now you're asking me to go with you. To get stronger. Should I be worried? About what happens to me at the end of the trip?"

"We already know what happens, Ravan," she assured him then. "I go to Bosco and you go back to sulking around the country, accomplishing nothing. And hopefully? We never have to see one another again."

This sounded nice. Or at least it would have, were there not a bit of something else, twinging her voice, marring her words. Haven didn't mean it, even as she said it, but that was fine with Ravan, who wouldn't have bought it either way.

"You know," he told her then with a bit of a shrug, "some people just call up their best friend for one last road trip. But you-"

"Locke's," Haven told him bluntly, "my best friend."

"Locke's your boyfriend." And this felt no better on his tongue, even removed from all the teenage angsty lust shit that used to hang between them, than it ever had. "And you know that makes it different. Considering I'm the only other person in the entire world that will talk to you who's not somehow related to you-"

"Don't you have a cigarette to get back to choking on?" She was cross now, knowing she should have ended the conversation a few backhanded replies ago, when she was more in power, only turned back to towards the house. "Asshole."

Ravan wanted her retreat, but gave it to her without contest, kicking around a pebble out on the porch for a good minute or so, in order to not give any appearance of following her in.

Haven was already back in her sleeping bag, on the floor, and Ravan spotted Marin trying very hard to pretend like she was still sleeping, on the couch. There was another sleeping bag, wedged in the tiny living room, no doubt meant for him, and Ravan only fell into it with a long exhale.

It would be a...difficult next few days, he was sure, but some that he'd agreed to. Because whether Haven wanted to admit it or not, whether he was only mentioning it to get under her skin or not, this very much so would be the last that they saw of one another. For a good while. No matter what happened in Bosco, Ravan didn't expect her to return to Magnolia, or perhaps even Fiore, for at least a year after leaving. If not more. And though Jellal was placating his absences a bit considering he had no hold over him, Ravan really did want to prove him commitment to the cause.

This...could be the last time that he and Haven saw one another before one or the other made a massive life change.

He'd spent what felt like forever regretting every single decisions he'd made, every step of the way, on their last journey together. Even with this erased, practically, it felt like at times now, a meaningless, regrettable keynote in something broader, Ravan still found the gauntlet difficult to let go of.

For a lot of reasons.

It was about a year and a half ago now, but it felt like so much longer. Until it got to be late at night. And he could reply all of their conversations, all their actions, they night they… And it all felt so stupid now, so childish, and they'd both changed a lot. Death changed a lot. But the idea that Haven was opening herself back up to it again, traveling with him, even just being around him, felt like she was still stuck on it too.

At least somewhat.

There wasn't closure in death. And a lot less in resurrection.

Before, they'd both been forced into accepting what was given to them, that day they spoken while the guild was being reconstructed and that last night they saw one another, back in the early days of winter, but something was blocking them. Each time. Separating them.

Now, truly now, they were going to have a chance to be alone, to get it all out. If this was the last time they were going to see one another for awhile, if not forever, then…

Fuck.

Fuck.

It was morning.

Or at least those bleary hours where Kai made a massive amount of noise, usually just bothering poor Lance, who didn't have to be at his own job in the city marketplace until a bit later in the day, but now everyone in the house as he moaned and groaned through getting ready to head down to the shore.

He succeeded in his childish gamble this time, waking the entire house to suffer with him through the pains of an early morning duty, but this worked in the favor of Haven who wanted to be out of there around that time anyways. While Kai gobbled down an apple in the couch, she went to kick Ravan awake, about the same way she would when they were children, before going over to where Marin still laid on the couch.

"Me and him are heading out," she told her younger sister softly who only blinked up at her tiredly, but silently. "I'll be back soon. Don't go home until I come for you, alright? I'm sure you can find something to occupy your days here-"

"Haven-"

"Try making up with your friend," she offered then, hearing the teen in question arguing a bit, in the kitchen, with his older brother. Ravan had gone in there to get some breakfast of his own, as well as gripe to Kai about how noisy and rude he was being, which started some bickering between the two. Haven made a face at the sound, but only insisted, "I didn't try you to hurt you, Marin. And neither did Kai."

"No." She was tired, but still hurting from the night before, and told her sister simply, "You did it for your own selfish reasons."

This had become a problem of sorts for Haven. Marin was finding herself and that was great and everything, but she no longer caved as easily. Worst of all, she was prone to even fighting back some. A really sticky situation that Haven once wouldn't have minded much, instead just crushing her sister's spirits back down into nothing. Now though, Haven felt at least somewhat responsible for giving Marin such courage and, though she might find it easier to dismiss it, she was also struggling to just outright ignore pain in others these days. Even when she saw it as frivolous (though this clearly could be labeled as such, Haven had a tendency as labeling everything the same way and conceded her blindness on the subject), post-death Haven struggled with seeing pain in others after having to relive how much she handed down over the years.

Especially when it was in the eyes of her long-suffering baby sister.

"Locke and I are going to go away, Marin," she told her sister then who only rolled her eyes. "And Navi lives in another city. Ravan's gone. And Kai's here. Not there anymore, with you. When Locke and I leave, I… I have to know that you're going to be okay. And part of being okay is doing something other than working yourself to death. I don't want to get back from Bosco and find out that you spent every single day there, in that bar, working. I've trained hard every day of my life, but part of the reason I can continue doing it is because I play hard too. So, yeah, I tricked you into getting away from your daily toiling and catering towards the drunks of the guildhall. I'm sorry. But I could have gotten here without you. I could have tricked Locke without you. But I didn't. Because I wanted you to get away too. So at least enjoy the beach for a day, alright? Then you can get back to hating me when we go home."

Deflating some, Marin looked off before saying, "I don't hate you, Haven. I never have."

"I know." Standing once more, Haven went to sling her pack over her shoulder. "I'll see you when I get back."

It was as Haven left the house though that Ravan exited the kitchen, leaving his younger brother behind to finish getting ready for work. Noting the oldest Dreyar daughter's absense, he was quick to grab his own bag and head after her, but it was then that Marin found her feet.

"Ravan." She rushed to grab his arm before he was out the door. "Wait."

He did so, for her, watching from behind the bandanna he'd tugged around his face, hiding it once more, while Marin's hands only slowly released their hold on his arm, trailing down it until she reached his hand, sheathed in some of his fingerless gloves.

"I… I don't know what Haven's going to do," she admitted to him softly, knowing her sister was just outside. "But I know that when the two of you are together, sometimes you… Please don't let anything happen to her. Haven. There's a reason she's doing this with you and not Locke and I know that probably means it's not good, but… Please?"

Ravan shook his hand free of hers before reaching out to tentatively, but affectionately patting at the top of her head. She smiled at this, but he didn't, she could tell, even from behind his bandanna, and then he was disappearing into the early morning fog, just like he always did. Just like they always did, even when not together.

Haven and Ravan.

She was right, anyways, Haven was. Marin was rare to take days just for herself and, still acting rather icily to poor Kai, she went to actually find sleep finally, on the couch, while he left in dismay to head down to the dock.

Somehow, even Lance leaving didn't awaken Marin, as it wouldn't be until after noon, when Kai arrived back from work that she awoke. Oh, she was embarrassed by this, heavily, still rubbing sleep from her eyes as he trudged into the house to go shower off.

When he got out, Marin had managed to wake herself up some and only asked him softly, "Do you want me to make you something to eat?"

And Kai grinned madly at this, nodding his head, before remembering something of his manners and remarking, "You're the guest. I'll make you something."

Marin had to put little power into remembering that Kai was an awful cook and shooting this down rather quickly.

Still, it was nice, when they went to sit on the front porch together and eat the quick meal she'd tossed together. They spoke nearly nightly sometimes, on the lacrima, detailing their days together, but both were silent now as they sat beside one another, an edge taken off now perhaps, but neither lost in what they'd had a hand in.

"I sure have missed you," Kai admitted eventually and Marin wanted to roll her eyes and remind him of all the things mentioned before, of just how frequently they were in touch, but for some reason she found herself frowning and nodding as well.

The winter had been long and he'd used up his break on Haven's birthday. When it was Festival time, they mailed one another gifts and opened them together on the lacrima, and Erza obliged into doing the same, but they were all still adjusting to this new life they were forging. Marin feared a day, a week, where they would forget to write a letter or set up their lacrimas and for routine to set in once again, before they could rectify this action, and then…

So she had missed it, even if she didn't realize it until then, being in person with one another. Together. Really, truly together.

"I missed you too," she assured Kai and he snickered then while she blushed in return.

"And I know that it hurt your feelings," he went on, "how I lied to you and everything, and I'm sorry. Really. But Haven said I had to and-"

"What do you even owe Haven for exactly?" she asked then with a frown, glancing up from her plate to stare rather pointedly at him. "Kai?"

"W-Well, uh, I..." He was the one blushing then, looking off as he tossed a hand behind his head. "It's kinda...um… Well-"

"Kai-"

"I was sworn to secrecy and-"

"From me? I tell you everything. How long have you been keeping something from me?"

"Marin-"

"And with Haven? Why are you keeping secrets with-"

"It's not about me."

"Then it's about her?"

"Marin, it's...really personal."

He thought she'd have a response then. But she didn't. She just looked back at her plate and somehow that was worse. Knowing that she was giving in.

Plus, well, he had sat on this knowledge for so freaking long and…

"Ravan and Haven slept together, on the gauntlet thing they went on. Before she died."

Marin frowned then before looking up at him and making a face. "Kai...that's gross. Why did you just tell me that?"

"You asked!"

"Yeah, but- What does that even have to do with you?"

"He told me," Kai muttered then with a frown. "And then maybe, somehow, Locke found out while she was, you know, uh, dead and it could have been my fault and-"

"Wait." Marin nearly dropped her plate from her lap then as she glared at the older teen. "Ravan and Haven had... _sex_ ," she whispered that last part with a blush, "and then then you let me let them go off together while Locke's trying really hard to become S-Class, just to do something nice for Haven? If I knew that, I wouldn't have let them go."

"Well, uh, you did hear your sister," he offered then. "You couldn't stop her."

"You have no idea," she told him simply and there was a steel then, in her voice, that he'd never heard before, "how hard I've been training."

Sighing some, Kai said, "I think it was just a one time thing, you know? And it's really none of our business. At all. And you heard Haven; she's going to tell Locke everything when she gets back."

But somehow, even the two of them weren't naive enough to believe that.

"I know that Haven and Ravan are our siblings," Marin went on with a frown, "but Locke's our friend too. And why would you ever even tell him about it in the first place, Kai? That's really-"

"I have a dark side, Marin," he told her simply then. "Do you know that, out in the nets, those fish suffocate to death? It's haunting."

"Kai-"

"I'm a changed person."

"You told Locke _before_ you came here," she pointed out.

"I've always felt this darkness inside me."

"Kai-"

"Haven and Ravan are just going to go out on one last adventure together, okay?" He was tired of talking about it. "There's nothing you or I could do to stop it."

"You helped facilitate it, Kai."

"...There were only a few things we could have done to stop it."

Letting out a long breath, Marin found her gaze fixed instead then, out at the sky before them before asking, "Why does Haven to have make everything so complicated? All the time?"

"I dunno," Kai admitted softly. "But at least me and you get to hang out now, huh? Just for a day or two. So… Let's not think about it. About then. Whatever they're doing. Lance has to work until late tonight, so you and I can do anything you want. Anything. C'mon, Marin. There's gotta be somethin' that you wanna do?" When she gave no answer, he suggested, "I's thinkin' that we could go down to the pier tonight and just have fun. I have some jewels saved up and, I mean, it probably won't be until the summer until I either get a break to come see you so… Can't we just have some fun now?"

She didn't feel good about any of it, Marin didn't, but she'd spent most of her life sucking down the horrible things that Haven brought about, dealing with the fallout and burying any feelings towards her sister's acts. While have saw Marin as frequently being forced to keep sweet and innocent, it was far closer to ambivalence masked with insouciance that the youngest Dreyar daughter had to fake.

"Yeah, Kai," she finally agreed and he grinned, hopeful of getting away from their unpleasant past few hours. "We'll go have fun and forget about it all for awhile."

This would serve them well, as neither of their siblings gave any mind to their younger counterparts as they ventured out that day.

Haven, even, felt that it was rather serendipitous how it all worked out. Kai's dumb new town wasn't too far off from where she was headed. One train and some light hiking later and already she was closing in on her destination.

Ravan had been rather sullen the entire morning, smoking off and on, hardly responding to any of her quips. Which was for the better. Haven knew that their time together would be short, but instead of worry about not having enough time to cram in all she needed to say and do, she feared coming up short before the end.

"What is this place?" he did ask however, when late in the afternoon, both sticky with sweat and perhaps both a bit exhausted, less from their physical exertion and more from skating around topics with one another, they neared in on their destination.

It looked like a castle of some sort, in the distance. They still had quite the ways to go on foot, but he could see it now, between the tree tops, some sort of imposing fortress, and felt a sinking in the pit of his stomach.

"Don't worry," Haven assured him, picking up on his tone easily enough. "It's abandoned." Then she paused and glanced over her shoulder at him. "I mean, hopefully."

"But what," he insisted, slightly annoyed at the run around, "is it, Haven?"

"Isn't it obvious?" That time when she looked back at him, she took to pushing her (Locke's) sunglasses away from over her eyes, nestling them into her tangled blonde hair as she grinned rather openly over at the man. Blue eyes alight and shimmering regardless of the rather unpleasant forestry surrounding them, Haven told him in a rather sanguine tone, "That's where it all began. Or restarted, I guess."

"Haven-"

"It," she began, turning around once more as she dropped the red tinted shades over her eyes once more, "was my grandfather's liar. One of them. The one I was resurrected in. And you're going to help me raid it."

"For what?" Ravan asked quietly, but Haven was done talking then, it seemed.

Frowning at the looming building in the distance, Ravan only hoped that they found whatever she was looking for.

And nothing else.


	3. Chapter 3

"It's weird," Haven whispered as they stepped out of the tangled forest surrounding the fortress and into the mass of overgrown weeds entombing it. While Ravan was a bit pissy about getting covered in an assortment of different, pointy, needled foliage, the blonde only had eyes for the building before them. "I remember bits and pieces of it. Not...coming here, I was...gone, to eternity or whatever, lost, but when the demon fled… It looked different, a year ago. The same, but different."

Spring was upon them and everything felt in bloom on the property, shedding the freezing cold to soak up all the warmth and humidity as it was given, making it difficult for them to progress effectively through the weeds. While Haven paused for a moment, to overlook the place that gifted her back life, Ravan only summoned a blade and, before the woman could question him, flicked his wrist slightly, hardly at all. While the blade itself just barely nicked the tall blades of grass before it, a swift, blue hued swish of air cut a path, straight through, tossing the greenery all about.

As Haven and Ravan exchanged a look, she only offered, "I knew there was a reason I invited you," and he decided to take it as appreciation. It was, after all, hard to come by from the woman.

Ivan's former lair, other than being derelict, was also a melting pot of architectural decisions that would make the most accepting of appreciators scratch their heads. The structure consisted of dark gray and black bricking, and looked almost Gothic medieval, with tall rises and pointed roofing, but there were strange patches here or there, where it was clear Ivan had constructed or added on to existing features.

"How did he afford all this?" Ravan asked softly, speaking for the first time to Haven in a good hour. "And you said he has other properties?"

"Had," she corrected before shrugging. "Everyone always calls him insane, but, uh… He always made a way for himself. And then some. He just used his earnings to torture the rest of us."

There was an edge in her voice then, that hadn't been there previously, but Ravan had no time to question it (if he was going to in the first place because, honestly, it seemed unlikely), because he felt it then, about the same time Haven did.

They weren't alone.

As they both stopped in tandem, only a few feet from the structure now, staring up at it as the sounds of echoing footsteps could be heard within, as well as some sort of deep voice, calling out to others.

"Oh, good." Haven slid her sunglasses back up to nestle in her golden locks. "I was hoping our trip wouldn't be with excitement."

There were five of them. Men about their age, maybe one somewhat younger, and they came pouring out of the front entrance of the building to stand there all menacing-like. The biggest one stood in the center, his meaty arms crossed over one another as he glared the duo before him down.

"Well, well, well," his deep voice bellowed as he looked through his greasy, unwashed hair that stuck to his forehead. "What do we got boys? Some lost little lovebirds, come to roost."

Ravan still held the sword he'd summoned from before, but he didn't move to use it, instead deferring to Haven, who still seemed rather amused by it all.

"Ivan," she spoke then, to Ravan though she didn't glance at him, "is gone. Right of first refusal, Laxus doesn't want the place… Yep. Just as I thought. This is my property. Weird. I don't remember inviting any inbred hicks over."

The bigger one continued to sneer at her, but that younger one, tiny and wiry, he'd been tossing a stone in one hand, a pile of them cupped in his other palm. Ravan had no doubt that he'd been tossing them at windows in the back before being called out here, and at Haven's insult, only changed his target.

He tossed a stone then, the young guy did, aimed straight for Haven. It would have hit here squarely in the head, especially since she didn't so much as flinch, but it had to be a trick of the light. Surely. Maybe they all blinked. Because the stone was soaring through the air one second, then, as it grew closer to her, it hit some sort of...force field or something, maybe, and bounced away a bit before hitting the ground at her feet.

"You're," Haven announced before holding up her hand where little sparks of energy now began to trickle off, "fucked."

"They're fuckin' mages," one of the five guys whispered.

"Worse," Haven lamented for him as Ravan flicked his sword again and they all had to scatter, least they be sliced in half by the blue hued swash of air headed their way. "We're fairies."

They guys didn't stay to fight. They went running through the overgrown shrubbery around the property, getting horrible separated and no doubt eventually would all be lost from one another, once in the vast forest. While Ravan only sent his sword back to its reequip space, Haven pouted some, staring after their foes in annoyance and even lazily shooting a lightning bolt after one, though the trajectory was off by just enough it only grazed him.

"I thought," she called after them, "that you wanted to battle?"

But Ravan wasn't nearly as dismayed by this turn of events and only tugged down the bandanna around his face before questioning, "Fairies, huh?"

Still glaring after the other guys, she said with a shrug, "Missing old times, I guess."

Regardless, it was for the better that the little ragtag team of mindless idiots had already scoped out the building. Considering they seemed rather comfortable in it, Haven imagined that meant they'd been there for a bit and more than likely scared off any other vagrants. Unfortunately, however, once inside, they found that those guys, or perhaps even some before them, had used the abandoned estate as a playground of sorts. There was trash and broken glass all about, as well as graffiti tags and…

"Did they fucking," Haven asked as she looked away in disgust, "pee in those bottles?"

Ravan only pulled his bandanna higher then, over his nose, and kept his opinions to himself.

They split up. Haven seemed to know exactly what she was looking for, but had yet to tell Ravan what it was, so he went off on his own, to search out any thing of interest that had yet to be pillaged.

"It's like a fucking tinderbox in here," he grumbled to himself as he reequipped into only his undershirt and some shorts, as he investigated the downstairs thoroughly.

It seemed as if Ivan had just used the place as housing for a good number of his minions, as most of the rooms were barrack styled and otherwise barren. Upstairs though, Ravan did find a study, which he scoured thoroughly, hoping for some sort of safe or hidden passageway. His granddaughter had been none too helpful when trying to pin down exactly how the man had funded his endless streams of bad decisions and Ravan hoped to find some sort of indication of how he garnered his wealth. Some gemstones or something. Bonds. Hell, even just straight up cash.

Something.

Haven on the other hand didn't have riches in mind as she scoped out her grandfather's final hideaway. Rather, she mostly stood in the main walkway, eyes closed as she tired to remember it. How it had all gone down. When the demon fled the house. She recalled the basement area, where she was fire awoken, but had already canvased all of the downstairs for some sort of staircase or indication of a hidden passageway, but she couldn't find one.

So she was trying to remember.

But it was getting harder. Overall. She'd already surpassed a year since her death, and was now streamlining towards a year since her revival, both with a demon encased in side of her and the post. The days of remembering it all in floods of vivid detail were becoming lost to the blonde and, though Locke insisted to her that this was for the better, Haven was worried of what it would mean. To lose it.

When it all just became a memory, a distant one, would she only fall back into her old aims? And schemes? She felt like the obvious answer should be no, but ever since she'd gotten back, there'd always been a cloud around exactly what she'd gone through. The majority of her family, including her parents, seemed to think it was all just a dream. Or a play, enacted only for her, through the powers of Ivan.

It was his magic, after all, that entombed her within herself, keeping her alive just long enough for her to have her revived. It stood to reason then, that she hadn't truly tasted death, but rather been locked away within her own mind, which he manipulated the rest of her into being consumed by the demon. What she claimed to be afterlife, when she was forced to view every one of her actions, from the bad to worst, was nothing more than Ivan's magic playing tricks on her. It came to an end when the demon awoke, not because she was thrust back from limbo, but rather because the spell ended. Ivan, not understanding the spell he'd cast, had no idea that she was still trapped inside herself along with the demon and that's what led to her being able to eventually reject it.

But this wasn't true.

Not all of it.

Haven knew she'd died. That it was more than just a magic trick. The stasis he'd placed on her body had nothing to do with her soul and whatever it was that Ivan did, accidentally or not, to bring it back was purely coincidental. There was no way for him to put on the show she'd seen. The replaying of events. So many things that occurred he'd have had no knowledge of. She'd have had no knowledge of. Haven had seen things from when she was far too young to even form proper memories.

And then...then there was Makarov.

It started happening when she was a little kid. And she hadn't spoken on it since then. But sometime after the man died, she began to...see him, sometimes. She'd heard stories before, from her parents, about how they used to 'see' the former Master of the hall as well and thought it was something similar, and even mentioned it to them a few times, but had always been rebuked by Laxus whenever she did. So she stopped mentioning it.

Ivan was one of the only people to know about it, honestly, as she could still recall when he captured her, as a child, and relying the information to him. Upon confirming this, her mother assured her then he'd used it to trick her as well, and it was more of his magic that had Makarov there, with her, in those final few hours she was trapped by the demon.

But it still made no sense.

Why would Ivan do that? Makarov instructed her on how to defeat the demon, something Ivan would have been staunch against. He had nothing to do with Makarov's appearance towards her, even if he'd been able to recall it all those years later.

Makarov told Haven why he was there. Why she'd seem him. All those years ago. Time was fluid. It had a path, but it wasn't set yet. He fucked up the timing, all those other instances, but when she needed him the most, at the moment she had to have him, he'd been there and he'd helped her.

He'd saved her.

And, considering what her breaking free caused, Marin as well. If not more.

Time had a way of tainting things though. Memories, especially. And as she drifted further from that point, that period, Haven didn't want it all to become a wash. Full of second guessing. The only person she knew believed her outright was Locke, and that was only because he was there, those first few nights, while she'd wake up in a panic over the whole thing. He heard her detail it all to him, in the same vivid hues she'd viewed it, listened to her recount every single detail, the ones she kept hidden from the others.

It was no wonder they didn't fully believe in what she told them. Magic explained away so much of what went on in all of their lives that it made much more sense to put faith in it. Magic had a way of explaining the unexplainable.

But while it had a hand in what had occurred, Haven knew better than to put everything off on it.

Something fell.

From upstairs.

As Haven's eyes flew open once more, she felt the house shake slightly.

"Ravan," she growled, rushing over to glare up the staircase. "What did you do?"

He wasn't sure.

Well, actually, he kinda was.

After tossing things from the shelves in the study, he was dismayed at not being treated to a hidden safe, and only gone to fall back into the chair behind the desk. While his eyes fell over different objects up there, he noticed a strange little cube with no other discernible markings on it. Just a pure, black cube. Reaching out, he snatched it up, surprised by it's hefty weight, until he noticed the little indentation in the desk it had been hiding, a slight little bump, which had been pressed in before, but sprang up now and commenced the slight shaking in the manor.

Rushing back out into the hall, prepared for whatever might befall them, he found Haven there, at the bottom of the grand staircase, and they both shared something of a glare at one another then, before she turned to walk off.

"What changed?" he questioned, which, actually, was rather relevant when posed between the two of them, but in regards to the house, only made Haven scoff.

"What do you mean?" she asked as he was rushing down the stairs. "And what happened to your clothes?"

"It's hot," Ravan defended, which got the biggest eye roll out of the woman so far. Still, he insisted, "You know what I mean; when you're in some fancy mansion where an evil scientist or businessman lives, you flip a switch and then their evil lair is revealed."

"That's the dumbest shit I've heard."

"It's in all the-" He stopped himself, Ravan did, looking off before saying, "In all the books. That I read."

"The _comic_ books?" Haven questioned and ugh.

Ugh.

Haven walked away then and Ravan was quick to follow now, glancing all about, convinced that they were going to stumble upon something untoward. She seemed confident however that this was not the case which is why, probably, she nearly fell into the hole that now formed in the kitchen floor.

It was embarrassing, to say the least, to stumble down a flight of stairs that suddenly took over a floor you'd certain walked over before, but as Haven looked back at Ravan, he was too ecstatic over this development and had to hide it by turning away.

He'd only waited his entire life to be inside the mansion of some eccentric billionaire and, yes, fine, the dude was already dead and there was no big mystery to resolve and it was doubtful that the basement would be filled to the brim with mutants that he'd have to slay in order to save the planet, but hey; this was the closest he'd ever gotten to the perfect comic book scenario.

A man had to relish in what he was given.

Haven had hurt her ankle just a bit in her tripping down the stairs, but only shook it off as she growled over her shoulder, "Come on," to Ravan before continuing on towards what waited them at the bottom of the staircase. And this? This she remembered.

It was cold and sterile. Even just the door barring them entrance. It had some sort of scanner attached to the wall beside the door, which kept it locked, and Haven cursed at first while Ravan rushed down the stairs to investigate. While he looked over the scanner, however, Haven only ran her hand around the outer edges of the steel door.

"Not airtight," she whispered, but as Ravan raised his head to ask what she meant, he was suddenly grabbed by the woman before…

It was almost indescribable.

One minute he was standing there, a question at the tip of his tongue, and the next Haven took his arm and then she...turned them into static. A lightning bolt. And he'd seen her do it before, while on the gauntlet, use her Lightning Body Magic, but he'd never experienced it firsthand and it left his body singed, it felt like, from inside out.

They traveled in a blink of an eye, through a tiny little gap Haven found between the door and it's jamb. And then they were standing there, together, inside the science lab of a mad doctor and fuck, Ravan was glad he ditched out on the others to accompany her here.

It was pristine. Almost. There'd clearly been some sort of fleeing of the area at some point, clipboards scattered about and different beakers of colored liquids left out on counters, but no others who'd trashed the house had been down here. The lab was so white and clean, pure, that it almost hurt Ravan's eyes to look at. While there'd been no power in the rest of the mansion, somehow, due to some sort of electric lacrima, the lab was fully powered, with lights and all. This had no doubt been in order to insure, no matter what, whatever experiment Ivan was funding would continue to get whatever it needed in times of crisis and Haven, unfortunately, knew exactly what experiment this had been.

While Ravan got all caught up, glancing at the assorted colored liquids on the counters as well as glancing over the scribbles left on clipboards and forms strewn around the room, Haven only walked with confidence through the lab, passed the autopsy-esque table she'd been laid upon, for all those months, as she was poked and prodded while her crazed grandfather watched, elated and talkative, as he detailed to her comatose form all his intentions when she awoke.

This was a playground for Ravan, but it was slicing back open a wound for Haven as she came to a stop, in front of the hydro chamber she'd spent all that time in. It was empty now, the glass casing open, and she could have stepped in, if she wanted, but she willed herself to not, to fight the urge, to see what it would feel like now, no longer filled with sickly orange goop.

"Why did we come here, Haven?"

She didn't look over at Ravan then as she squatted down, so she could pick it up from where it lay at the bottom of the chamber; a mask. It was connected with tubing to other parts of the chamber, but she lifted it regardless, turning it some in her hand so she could see the backing of it, the part that was secured over her face not even a year prior now.

"He was evil," was all she answered, speaking softly now, in a tone Ravan wasn't accustomed to. "But he… Ivan was a lot more than just that though. I know my father hates him, I know why he hates him, but… I can feel it too. Sometimes. Like we're not that different."

She paused then, to swallow, before dropping the mask and standing once more. When she turned to face Ravan, she found him standing behind her now, just watching, face void, but listening.

Somehow, he was always listening.

"I get like he does. Sometimes." She found it easier for some reason, to stare Ravan in the eyes as she spoke. This had never been the case before, but it made her feel better for some reason. Like she was explaining instead of worrying. "Obsessive. Over things. Like power and… I don't hate him. He was...is…a bad person and I'm not saying he's some sort of misunderstood victim or something, but we're not...different enough."

"He's your grandfather." Ravan had his bandanna now, as he spoke. "My mother used to always say I liked my fish, all burned up, the same way her father did. And Kai, the way his cheeks get all red when he's excited, my father used to do the same-"

"Yeah, but that's different." She shook her head. "If he and I liked the same kind of dessert or listened to the same kind of music, that would be fine. That's just nature. This is… He would do anything for power. I would too. I like to think I wouldn't now, that I've changed and I'm different and that I have new goals now and… But every day puts me further and further away from the things that changed me. When I get to the boarder and I see how much power I'll need, to be useful there… What I'm not different? All the bad things he's done for power, Ivan… I've done a lot of shitty things too."

Taking a step forwards then, Ravan asked then the question that had been burning at him for so long now.

"How," he asked and she found it easier then to look away from him, "did you get that God Slayer magic? Haven?"

Again, she shook her head. "That guy I fucked around with, that you met Crocus that time, he had something similar. He was going to show me how to get it and I...got tired of waiting. I thought he was stringing me along. So I…went alone. To where I thought he'd gotten it. He'd gone through this whole ceremony and prostrated himself for this...god, he said, but...I did something wrong. I didn't understand it, fully. I hadn't been shown the proper way, like he had, and it, the god….demon, it...smited me. It opened something inside of me, some sort of portal or…

"It's why Ivan was so easily able to bond that other demon to me. To force it to possess me. Because I was so fucking greedy, because I had to get that power, I made myself susceptible to Ivan's dumb shit and it nearly got my entire family killed." Haven looked back at him again, holding a hand up where, once more, purple magic seemed to drip from her palm. There was something of a grim expression on her face as she assured him, "And I do it all again. I know I would. I like to think I wouldn't, but fuck, Ravan. Fuck. How fucking powerful were we? Was I? When I had that God Slayer magic coursing through my veins? It was like nothing else in the world. That damn monster, fuck, it got me. Yeah. It killed me. But before that, before that… I don't know. If it had all be different, if we'd have just stayed focused…

"But then I wouldn't have this." She turned her palm then, to look it over herself, and laughed, just enough to make her chest heave, as she stared down at it. "I wanted it out of me. When I woke back up. All summer, I tried to look into ways to rid my body of it. I trained with Gajeel and would avoid using it. I didn't want to. I was...afraid of it. What it would feel like. But this winter… Locke's been wanting me to fully experience my powers, all of them. Before we go to Bosco or whatever. So I don't get overwhelmed there, if something happens. So while he was out on a job, I...went into the woods for a few days. All on my own. I forced myself to sleep out there, by myself, and unleash some of this new magic I'd been storing up inside of myself. And you know what? It didn't feel like the God Slayer magic. It felt better. It felt like control. It felt like complete control."

"Why did you bring me here?" Ravan's eyes were still on her, she could feel them, but she was hardly listening to him any longer. "Haven?"

"I came here," she answered instead, "to find what I could on the demon inside of me. It's name and, hopefully, some spells and things. And… I want to be for sure. That it had happened. Like I remembered. That it wasn't all a dream or a trick or… I wanted to know that I had died and that Ivan brought me back. And he did. I was dead when I came here, but he sunk all this time and effort into reviving me. Whether he meant to or not."

"What happened to him?"

"I dunno. My father never told me. Just that he took care for him. So I guess, maybe..." She sighed some, lowering her hand, but raising her eyes to glance around. "I guess, maybe, I came here to be sure. To be certain. That he wasn't any longer. I dunno what I'dda done if I found him. If he was still in control of my life or had some more spells put on me. I...I don't think I'd thank him. Even though he saved my life. But...I'd have liked to talk to him. Again. As an adult. Even if he's crazy and not all there anymore, I just… My dad thinks that being a Dreyar is what fucked his life up and I used to think it was just an excuse. To not really try or to just give in. To just be able to say you're fucked from the start so it doesn't matter if you keep doing it, if you keep fucking up; you can't control it. I realized how much I lived like that. Like him. And he's trying now, he's still a shithead, but… When you see it played back for you, Ravan, when you get to see every single thing that led you down the path you take… I just thought that if I could talk to Ivan, then maybe..."

"Your dad's not dead."

When she snorted at this, Ravan only insisted.

"He's not," he told her. "And...I think that he's an asshole and I fucking guts, but fuck, Haven, you don't have to find your answers in your grandfather. Not when your father's still here. He might not have all the answers, but between the two of you… Fuck, I don't know, Haven. I don't. Ivan sounds horrible. And he probably's what fucked your father up and he's probably what fucked you up. But I don't think that you're horrible. Yeah, you were into searching out power and trying to get stronger, but… You didn't hurt people. To get it. Maybe indirectly, but not on purpose. You're nothing like Ivan. Or your dad. You're just still finding your way."

Whatever had taken over her, over him, to make this moment occur seemed to burst then, to filled and not enough space. Haven glanced away from him and her eyes fell to the cabinets that lined the upper wall in one portion of the lab.

Walking around Ravan now, she went to begin flinging the cabinets open, taking glances for anything curio, before moving on to the next. It was in the second to last cabinet that she seemed to find what she was looking for, reaching in to pull out some kind of archaic container. It was a deep purple, forming a pyramid shape, with some black overlaying atop the glass encasing. The top once was no doubt a stopper of some sort, perhaps a cork, but it was gone now, probably chunked after its job was complete. It held back whatever had been entombed inside just long enough for Ivan to offer it a proper vessel.

The vessel held it now, studying it, Haven did, for a long few moments before remarking, "Locke will be able to read the writing on this. Or at least tell me what language it is. Or his mother. Gather up all the papers too; I'll stuff them in my pack. He and Levy will figure it all out."

They seemed to have gotten what they needed then, as Ravan assisted in gathering up all the papers he found strewn about, shoving some into his pack as well for the time being. It was while they were doing that though that Haven spoke again.

"I almost asked Navi to come," she admitted as they were bent down near one another, searching out any more loose leaves of paper. "Instead of you."

"Why?" Ravan questioned and she smiled then.

"I wanted to torch the place," she admitted, her tone sounding much too thoughtful for her words. "Burn it all up when I was done with it. But don't wanna catch any flack from the local patrol."

"I meant," he corrected, "why did you ask me? To come?"

Standing once more, she didn't answer as she said, "It's gonna be dark soon. We can camp out in the woods tonight and then head back to Kai's tomorrow."

He thought better than to force the issue.

When they were done with the lab though, Haven did linger about the other areas for a bit, searching out the upstairs for herself. Ravan cautioned her on not getting her hopes up, the place seemed picked cleaned, but Haven only retorted that she'd long given up the treasure hunting game.

"Quick highs, not enough reward," she assured him. "There's better stuff out there."

"Like being a loser guild wizard?" he challenged, but it only got him the finger, and it was just as well.

They camped out that night, like Haven had suggested, in the woods surrounding the property. As the sun set, they feasted together once more on some random crap Haven had stashed away in her pack from she and Locke's apartment. It wasn't much, but as they each slammed back a warm can of beer together while gorging themselves on assorted snack foods, it felt like a snapshot out of a life they'd both forgotten.

There were new scars and gear. They both looked older, with him having a bit of stubble that didn't look wholly awful while Haven wore being a woman far better than she ever had in years prior, and they were adults now. Both of them. Truly. More than they ever had been. But if this is how they'd leave one another, if this is where they'd leave one another…

Ravan couldn't say he'd hate it so much.

He wanted to talk to her though. About so much. To tell her things too. A lot of things. But it all died off in his mind, too fearful of sparking an argument and ruining what could be the closest to perfection that would ever come between one another, and sometimes it was just better. Maybe. To leave some things unsaid.

Ravan smoked before bed, sitting over on his sleeping bag, while Haven produced a flashlight from pack and began going over the documents for herself. Eventually though, she shifted into laying down, slipping out of her prized hoodie first, though she didn't place it in the pack with the papers and flashlight. No. When she laid down, Haven bundled it up beneath her head, kind of like a pillow, and Ravan would have been willing to let it go, had he not noticed how she buried her nose in it first, smelling it.

"You," he finally found it in him to say, his tone a mix of amusement and accusation, "really miss your boyfriend, huh?"

Caught now, Haven frowned, lifting her head some to send him a glare before replying simply, "Fuck off."

And it had been better, he knew, if he'd just said nothing.

Lave it to Haven to have him feeling so damn much like a kid again, that once more, it took forever for him to fall asleep. He just laid awake while internally citing how stupid he was, the whole day, and what did he even want from her? Huh? What did he want so badly? She was going to go away, to Bosco, and he was going to go back to his life without her, and there were no words between them that would change that.

Nothing between them would change that.

So why did he feel like there was still something he could do to change that?

Eventually though, exhaustion won out, and they went to bed so early that he actually got a pretty good night sleep. He still awoke after Haven though, who he found stretching some in the early dawn hours, hardly seeming to notice his gaze.

Once she did though, the blonde smiled so sweetly over at him that he almost thought that he was still dreaming.

"Sleep well?" she asked, to which Ravan could only yawn and nod. "Good. I'm glad."

Something was off. He knew it, he could feel it, but he was still to tired to rightly understand it. That is, until he started to climb out of his sleeping bag. It was as he stood that, suddenly, he sensed some sort of magic aimed right at his back and hit the deck.

"Haven, what the fuck?" he growled as, shoving up from the ground, he saw no adversary. None other than her, standing there with an electrified arm as the tree directly in line behind him now had a massive scorch besmirching its bark.

"You didn't really think," she questioned darkly as his stomach began to fill with dread and bile climbed his throat, "that I brought you all the way out here because I liked your company, now, did you? Ravan?"

"H-Haven," he began, taking a step backwards then, nearly falling over his own feet. "I don't know what's going on, but-"

"That," she remarked as, after sending another lightning strike at him, given its speed, the guy had no choice, but to phase through it, "is the move that killed me, isn't it?"

"Haven-"

"Now which one," she pondered aloud as her less dominate hand began to drip that sickly purple magic once more, "will kill you?"


	4. Chapter 4

They were so alike that they were destined to clash.

That's what people always thought, anyways, of Haven and Ravan. Even they could conceded, at least now, to that fact. When they were children, they had so much stored vitriol and animosity for those around them that it was only natural they'd find it easiest to take it out on the only other person willing to give it right back to them. Up until the point they found one another, Haven spent her days constantly being disappointed by her sister, Navi, and Locke for their inability to continue to take the beatings she was doling out without crying to their parents.

Until Ravan showed up. He had no parents, for one thing, and also a resistance to giving in. They'd battle one another til they were both bloodied and even though, when they got older and became friends over time, the feeling of completely expending yourself, losing nearly all of your magic and having to slink home broken, were some of the best memories Haven held of the guy.

She'd always had a penchant for violence. It paired unfortunately well with her spoiled nature. From the time she was given free reign around nine or so, to go and do as she pleased throughout Magnolia, Haven mostly found herself bothering older children in the neighborhood, until, eventually, finally, they'd conceded and throw down with her.

It...usually didn't go her way.

But fuck, there was just something about it. There always had been for her. Something that her mother and father didn't understand. Or, more than likely, pretended as if they didn't.

To get to the pinnacle, to reach your apex, you have to claw your way up from the bottom. Broken, bruised, and bloodied. It didn't count otherwise. All the origins stories of the famed wizard she grew up in the shadows of had immense hurdles and struggles to overcome in order to garner their celebrity. Since she had next to none of that, the only other option was to manufacture it. Cause injury and hurt where none would appear otherwise.

Plus, well...Haven liked it even more when she wasn't the one getting her ass kicked.

Ravan, however, wasn't manufacturing his pain and suffering. Instead, he was coping with the actual fallout of a traumatic event while adjusting to a new life with a not nearly as sympathetic as she should be at times mentor.

And it felt so fucking good to lay into Haven, to really slam his fist into something, into someone, and just let it all out. Getting shocked wasn't pleasant, it never would be, but that slight tick, right before you realize that Haven had scorched you through, where your body seizes up and you kinda feel nothing for a moment…

There was no deeper reason for him hating Haven. Not really. Not any that he didn't lay out quite openly. She was spoiled and a bully and was a wholly rotten kid. Someone had to put her in her place. Why shouldn't he be allowed joy while doing so?

Never once did he consider her anything close to a friend during those early years. At all. Even when he was forced into palling around with the others, he saw all of them, Navi and Locke as well, as obstacles. Ravan didn't want friends. He'd had friends, most of them had died, and now he didn't need anymore. The same with parents. They were dead and Erza was nothing close to either of them. She was just...there. Kind of like how the slayer kids were just there.

But then one day changed everything.

He didn't understand why Haven sat with him, that day, while he embarrassingly wept, exhausted and beaten. The memory now felt jaded by all they'd gone through over the years, but he could attest with confidence before that moment, he'd never thought of Haven as anything more than an adversary. A rival. Maybe not even. You respect a rival; he vehemently hated the blonde. More than anyone else in his life.

She certainly felt the same way about him. He was for sure she did. And yet, instead of mocking him or running off to tattle, she just sat there, in the dirt. Silent. Not trying to give her opinion or force him into something he didn't want. He wasn't to be tricked, of course, and knew it wasn't the case, there was no way it was the case, but…

Why did it feel like she understood?

How could she?

Her parents weren't dead. She wasn't alone. She wasn't lost and broken and lacking any semblance of self-confidence or reliance.

But there was something in it. That day. As he fractured before her. It...changed things. It changed her, maybe, he wasn't sure, but it definitely changed him.

It felt like he wasn't so alone. That maybe there was someone, even a spoiled slayer kid, that felt the same way as him.

They didn't fight as viciously again. Never again, he was pretty sure.

Oh, they fought. They fought a lot. But it only continued to taper off from there and eventually…

Well…

Heh.

Haven was...reasonably attractive, he always thought, when they got to the age where that mattered, and she paid attention to him, when other people just looked right through him, and she never thought he was creepy. At all.

And he knew, if he'd had just been smarter than stupid Locke and had just said something to Haven, or had just cornered her the same way creepy Locke, then...then…

And it was stupid.

All of it was so stupid.

He was so stupid.

He was hung up on dumb shit that happened, god, it was over half a decade ago. Would he still be so bothered by it in a decade? Haven was, at most, mediocre, right? Right? And she was a fucking nightmare to have as even a friend. A fucking nightmare. And she'd fucked Locke's life up, so shouldn't he just consider himself lucky to have not been involved in all of that?

But he was involved in all of that, because he just thought, if they went out on an adventure together, a real serious one, the fucking gauntlet, and he'd get Haven the only thing she'd ever wanted. All she'd ever wanted. Power. More than she'd know what to do with. And then she'd team up with him, she'd be with him, and he'd be fine if she was with him in literally any capacity that wasn't with Locke, and then they could go on to do all of the things they wanted and he just...he just…

He just phased through it because his mind was leaving him and he was going crazy and she was going to go home with Locke and he'd thought they'd won the gauntlet and it was just reaction and he couldn't breath, he couldn't breath, he couldn't breath, he couldn't…

"Come on, Ravan," Haven was taunting, in that moment, as he did the best he could in that moment, to connect his blade to a purple blast she sent his way, an orb, sending it flying off in the opposite direction. "Fuck your swords. Show me your real magic. Defense is for cowards." There was a glint in her eye then, from where she stalked him, both moving in tandem to one another in a contentious dance. Gleaming, she remarked then, "Maybe that's why you're so into it, huh? You little coward."

"Are you… Haven, did that demon…. Did it get back inside of you?" Ravan still stood in his same dance, not on the attack, not until he knew for certain. "When were in the lab? Or-"

"You're a fucking idiot. You always have been. You know that?" She was advance on him now, shaking her head some as her blue eyes flared in the rising sun's light. "You're pathetic."

"Haven, if you're in there-"

"I never liked you. I was never your friend. At all. I was using you, idiot. And not even the good type of using you, like I was everyone else. Because you were such a little sucker that I didn't even have to give you anything, nothing at all, in return for you basking in my attention." She no hint of the demon inside of her. Not an ounce. All her words, her mannerisms, belonged solely to her, another her, maybe, from years past, that had grown and changed, but had to still exist, as all former selves did, beneath facades and layers. Something, clearly, had revealed this once more and, as it sneered in Ravan's face, "So be the same pathetic little wimp you always are and do as I say; _fight_. Or I else I'll fucking slaughter you. I fucking swear."

There was a strange moment, just a beat, where he processed her words and she took a breath, Haven did, about the same time he gulped one in, and everything felt so still as she came to a stop before him now, his blade drown between them, time having passed, so much fucking time, and yet…

"In my darkest hours, I turn to you, the heavens above. Grant me the power only Raijin can wield!"

It happened so quickly and yet, not really, was it? This was a long time coming, as Haven's arm shot into the sky, which seemed to darken in a blink, dropping voided lightning straight down, her catching it with with no fear, even knowing the pain this could bring. It was, after all, the only way to get stronger.

There was something different about it though, this time, than it had been out on the cliff that day. Much like for the demon, Haven's eye blacked immediately, fully engulfed save the tiny red dot in the center, becoming as tenebrous as the armor Ravan reequipped into, shiny and reflecting the glows of her duel wielded magic.

He thought he was going to have to kill her, before, once. Not so long ago. In the hot summer that granted her rebirth. But first, he'd spent some agonizing hours, dreading his lot in life, which was surely putting an end to the terror that stood before him now. After all, someone had to put Haven in her place.

Why wouldn't it be the one person who would enjoy it?

But he hadn't enjoyed it. He wasn't enjoying this, as she flew at him with such ferocity, such animus vigor, that it was all he could do to toss up his blade, not catching her magic now, but rather her forearm, a power struggle of swords as she pressed her flesh harder against the blade, as if her body were her own weapon.

And wasn't it?

Ravan fell away, just slightly, stumbling in shock as he watched her wound weep blood from behind his visor, his helmet not providing near enough shielding from what he could clearly now diagnose as insanity.

Whatever he'd done, in bringing her back here, in allowing her to come back here, it was a mistake.

"One of us," Haven insisted to him then as she hardly seemed to even feel it, the stinging in her arm as she merely formed a fist and shot a blast of sticky black lightning straight for the man, "is going to die here, Ravan. And if you keep this up, it's definitely going to be you."

It was all he could do then, Ravan could, to jump out of the way of the sickening crackle of lightning, diving to the side first into a roll, and then into invisibility. She wasn't giving him time to think. He needed to think to-

"You do have a death wish, don't you?" Her eyes flew around the clearing wildly. "I know you, Ravan; you can do all the training you want, with your mom's stupid boyfriend and his friends, take in as many lacrimas as you want, it doesn't matter; you will never have enough magic to pull it off for long. This invisibility shit. It soaks up too much magic. So come out, before I have to- Found you!"

This time, she stomped her foot, heavily, into the ground, the crackling following the path and scorching the ground in its wake.

Ravan cried out as, having fallen forwards, intending to duck her next shot of lightning, he was in the direct line of sight for this ground current and it burned him. Through the armor. He could feel it. This was the magic that nearly downed the final monster on the gauntlet.

If he didn't do something, it would certainly fell him.

Shoving up, he phased back into view, taking a few gasping breaths as Haven stood there, stock still, watching him with a heavy gaze.

"I didn't fucking," he growled to her then as his breath caught back up to him, "kill you, Haven. On that cliff. It wasn't my fault."

And it wasn't.

He knew it wasn't. Now.

But oh, he'd spent so long being unable to come to that conclusion.

The day hung in his memory like no other. Even memories from when he was a boy and a sea monster descended upon the shores of his village, killing most of his family, were beginning to finally, fully fade. Just in time though, there was that final monster, on the gauntlet, to bring him a new memory to haunt his dreams.

Locke had come out of nowhere. From the forest or something. While Ravan was busy dodging blasts from the summoned monster. And Haven, she'd been injured, maybe, behind him, but then there was Locke, just like always, in their perfect little storybook relationship where she fucking sleep around on him and he act like the little bitch he always was, bowing to her every whim, and look, he was saving her again, wasn't he? Just like always.

Fucking idiots.

Both of them.

And fuck 'em, right? Fuck them. Fuck the two people who could have changed his life for the better, could have accept him and been friends with him, but no, Haven had him marked from the first time she saw him and made Locke hate him too. Enough so that even once she forgave him, one she turned the other cheek, her little lapdog couldn't do the same. And it had to be because he knew, didn't he? Locke did? How much better Ravan was than him for her? For Haven? And he was jealous because their friendship, their relationship, made sense, but Locke and Haven had long grown out of one another, hadn't they?

Hadn't they?

But here he was, once again, like the little piss ant he was, lost without his queen telling him directly what to do, and she wanted to be the hero. The victor. So that she could just walk right back out of his life, both their lives, really, the two of them, and go on with her power to do whatever the fuck she wanted.

It wasn't fair.

As childish and silly as it was, that's what Ravan realized that day, out on the cliff, as Haven used her special magic that she'd saved up, just for that moment, to presumably kill the final monster, and then sickeningly makeout with her dumb boyfriend over her victory, and it was never going to be him. Ever. He'd always been the replacement, no, worse; he was the placeholder. When Locke wasn't available, when Locke wouldn't understand or blindly agree to her words, he was there to make her feel heard and agreed with and, most importantly, in power.

And for what?

For fucking what?

So he was going to walk away. Not run away. Just leave. He was going to leave before her dumb family showed up, or whatever was going to go down, and he was going to be gone, then, from the cliff and her life, honestly, and maybe if things had ended there, if everything went how it had always gone up to that point, in her and Locke's favor, then this would be a sign. A final straw.

Haven was never going to be with him.

Or even be his friend.

He was going to walk away from that idea, that dream, and just let it die already, leave it in the past, with her, and her dumb actual boyfriend, and move on with his life, actually move on with his life.

And then…

She caught his arm. She'd rushed after him and grabbed his arm and was holding onto him, confused, because in her spoiled little world, Haven just couldn't understand it, didn't get why everything wasn't going exactly how she wanted, how she envisioned it. He was ruining things by having feelings and emotions and not being totally just okay with her boyfriend being all over her when, only a few nights prior, that was him and they were alone then, and everything was so much better, before that moment, and only continued to go downhill since then, and that had been the peak, right? Of their relationship? It was never going to get any better from there, and they were in the descent, and you couldn't break up with someone after hooking up once, but you could destroy a friendship that had spanned a childhood, and the monster threw something.

An orb.

At them.

And he just…

Did what came naturally.

Phased through.

Evaded.

Avoided something that might hurt him only to have it catastrophically fail and hurt him far worse.

"I didn't kill you," he was repeating with a shake of his head then, but his stance was different now and that time, when he let out a breath, it was only to suck in all the vitriol she was spewing out. "But now I'm going to."

Haven grinned then, but it wasn't so sweet, and when Ravan came rushing at her, blades drawn, she was more than ready. She may have even laughed, Ravan thought, but he couldn't be too sure of it, over the sound of the blood pounding in his ears, and she shocked him again, and again, and he was slashing her, but it wouldn't be enough, because there was only one way to kill her, but…

"Try it," she threatened when they fell away from one another, and her clothes were ripped and she was bleeding, rather heavily, from one wound in specific on her shoulder blade, but Haven only had eyes for him as she panted as well. "Won't work, but try it."

She was talking about his signature, finisher. The final move she'd first seen during the gauntlet. The blue hued light that would engulf his enemies, ending them. When he fell away that time, it was with the intention of using it, yes, at least as a threat tactic, but Haven sneered at this as well.

"If you do that," she told him then, "and it works, fine. You killed me. But if it doesn't, because it didn't, in the fucking guildhall last time, then what? Ravan? You're all out of power and time and I finish you off. That's the gamble, right? It either obliterates your enemies or it only slightly inconveniences them and they feast on you. Didn't work on me before; why would you try it now?"

"It didn't work," he replied darkly, "on the demon. But you don't have the demon inside of you anymore, Haven. You're mortal. Just like the rest of us."

His armor was in poor shape. That God Slayer lightning was eating it alive, ripping right through the protective plating and the glass had shattered on one side, on his visor, just barely missing his eyeball as it flew into his helmet, and fuck.

Fuck.

Every time he tangled with her, he wound up having to buy a new suit.

"I'm nothing," Haven assured him, "like the rest of you. And I don't need the fucking demon inside of me, moron. Don't you get it yet? I _am_ the demon." She laughed then, truly, and he heard it, as she looked up at the sky above, at the dark skies that loomed overhead. "I spent my whole life wanting to be a Dragon Slayer, just like my father. I thought that it was what made him so special, being a dragon, but now I know. Now I get it. His magic, the ultimate form of his magic… Lightning. Electricity. Flowing through me. And now..." She looked down then, at her hands, both pulsing with their separate magics, "Combined with the power of my mother, this demonic energy I've absorbed inside of me…" She slammed both hands together and a magic circle appeared before her as she insisted, "I'm fucking invincible!"

The purple beam that came towards Ravan now was laced with the black lightning and it was going to hit him. Unless he phased through it. But if his magic went to phasing through it, in that moment, he wouldn't have been able to divert it elsewhere.

As her magic ripped through the last of his armor, Ravan forced his focus into reequipping his sharpest, most rigid spear into his hand, and he rushed forwards, through the beam, yelling in equal pan as much sa attempting to stay alive, keep oxygen pumping through him just long enough to fall into Haven, the spear piercing her flesh fully, and he collapsed into her as she fell backwards, a choking noise causing the laughter to die off in her throat.

But only momentarily.

While Ravan fell away in absolute agony, the magic making it difficult for him to breath, clawing at his helmet, trying to rip it off, rip it all off, away from him, to get pure access to any air he could get, Haven only stayed there, the spear having torn right through the scarring she already had, from the final monster on the gauntlet, gasping in her own breaths at first.

But then he heard it.

She was laughing again, sickeningly, disgustingly, as blood fell from her mouth and she sounded overjoyed by what had occurred between the two of them.

His armor, spent and done with, faded back into his reequip as Ravan stayed there, on his knees, while tears pricked his eyes and he questioned, "Why? Why?"

"Because you left me."

She was standing then, woozily, but determinedly, stumbling across the clearing to where her pack lay forgotten. Rifling through it, Haven quickly produced some sort of vial, a potion of some sort, no doubt concocted by her dumb boyfriend, and she cried out, when she had to pull in the smoothest motion she could manage, the spear from where it lay buried in her flesh. Quickly, she tossed the liquid from the vial over the gaping wound in her stomach, it fizzling against her flesh as she hissed, and when Ravan glanced over again, it was little more than a scrap.

"You," she got out as her eyes, one marred still, found his from the other side of the clearing, "let me, Ravan. To die. To fucking die. You abandoned the quest and ran and hid, like a fucking child."

He fell then, off to the side, as his body was wracked with shaking and uneven breathing. Tears flowed now, truly, from his eyes, and he couldn't help it. He was crying, as he was unable to properly gather air in his lungs, while Haven only reached back into the pack before coming to stand over him.

"I win." Bending down, she had to force him not to turn his head as she pressed a vial to his lips. "Drink. Idiot."

He didn't want to, but his body ignored his heart, and the searing pain was slowly ebbing away as Haven, exhausted, fell back onto her butt beside him.

"Apply magical poison to the tips of your spears." She looked down at the tattered shirt she wore. "It would have made it less likely I could have gotten to my vial in time. Then you might have won."

'You're fucked," he sobbed while Haven only sat beside him, watching.

"No." And the sky was clearing now as the magic had long died away in both her arms. Staring him dead in the eyes, she only insisted, "I'm chosen."

Time had lost meaning during their battle, but it was coming back to them both slowly then. Ravan practiced his breathing while Haven poked at the wound in her stomach before, eventually, shifting back over to her pack.

He skewed his eyes shut, Ravan did, as she seemed to have little care for his presence as she tugged her shirt over her head and took a bottle of water out, to begin dumping it over her many nicks and cuts. She had to riffle through the pack one last time for gauze, which she began to wrap around her arms while glancing over her shoulder.

"Aw," she remarked dryly. "You mad at me?"

"Fuck off."

And he wanted to.

He really did.

He wanted to leave her then, right there, and they'd just never see one another again, and it would be like he had killed her. Or she him. A fitting end to the worst relationship he'd ever had in his life.

But he only laid there, miserable and somewhat immobile, honestly, while Haven licked her wounds and he sulked in his own.

"I'm not going to apologize." When he snorted at her words, Haven insisted, "I'm not. Ravan. You owed me this."

"What the fuck even was this?" He finally was able to force himself into sitting up, just a bit, as he ran a hand over his eyes. "Haven?"

"I've already told you," she snapped in annoyance. "I wanted to test my powers fully, before I went away with Locke. Remember? And the only way I could do that was-"

"By trying to get me to kill you? By trying to kill me?"

"If you didn't believe it was real," she chided, "you wouldn't go all out. And I wouldn't be able to go all out on you. I didn't do this to hurt you; I did this for me." Then she heard how that ending bit sounded and frowned before saying, "But only because you deserve it. You owed me. Heavily. Consider us all even now, huh?"

But his eyes were still dark as he shook his head and said, "You'll never get it."

"How you left me?" she retorted, annoyed now, like she always was, by someone not understanding her own case immediately while giving no regards to theirs. "How I laid there, dying, and my friend turned his back and-"

"You'll never understand any of it," he kept up, and he felt unwell, but refused to back down. Not over this. Not when they'd already come so far. She'd gone back to her gauze, stewing now no doubt, but he only insisted as he said, "You're too fucking selfish. All the people in the entire world, in my fucking life, who deserved a second chance, to come back, who'd actually mattered, and it's fuck you who gets to come back? Fuck this. Fuck all of this."

"You," she retorted as she turned, just like that, on her heels to glare at him with just as much fire as she had when they were tussling to the death, "don't know me. Ravan. At all. You have no idea what I am anymore. You didn't when we went out on that stupid gauntlet either. You don't know me. And you haven't since I was, what? Sixteen? Fuck you."

But he wouldn't let her have it, the higher ground, even if he still couldn't peel himself up off it. Tone tight, he questioned back, "And you know me?"

"I know that you left me." She tucked the gauze now, dropping her arms as she stared over at him. "And I know that you never apologized for it."

"What the fuck do you apologize for? Huh?'

"Everything. To everyone who deserves it." And she let out a short huff of breath then, through her nose. "To Marin, to Locke, to...my family. I'm a different fucking person now, Ravan. Than I was even six months ago. I'm getting better, every fucking day. Becoming better. And you don't get to come in and tell me I'm not."

She paused, waiting for his retort, but when none came, Haven took a deep breath before slowly taking steps towards him.

"I'm sorry. Ravan."

He refused to look at her, turning his head, but it didn't matter; her words penetrated regardless.

"I am. I...don't say that word very often, but it's true." She was beside him now and it was with a bit of a wince that she fell back, into the dirt beside him once more. "I am sorry. That I...made you keep going. On the gauntlet. That I made you think that I was going to...be your girlfriend or whatever it was, that you wanted. I'm sorry that I laughed at you. Every single time I laughed at you. I'm sorry if I...if I'm… I was ever part of the reason that you hated yourself so much. I was a really shitty kid and you don't have to believe me or forgive me, but I just thought… I'm going to go away, Ravan. For a long time. And...if we really don't ever see one another again...no joking or being a jerk, but… I'm sorry. For being such a lousy friend. And even worse to you, before I was that. I was going through my own things and preyed on you because of it. I can't go back and fix it, but… I'm sorry."

He fell backwards then, Ravan did, flat on his back, to stare up at the clear sky now, blinking some at the harsh light of the morning sun. Softly, he said, "I got scared. Haven. When you… I got scared and I ran and you're right. I was a coward. I've always been one. But you don't know what it was like, after you died. Your father ran me out of my home and your boyfriend turned everyone else against me. I was alone. I mean, I had Kai and Erza and...Marin, but other than that...it was just me."

Haven seemed to consider what he said, but only for a moment or so before remarking simply, "Hasn't it always been that way?"

Considering this as well, Ravan soon found himself shaking his head softly as he replied, "No." Resting his head on its side then, he stared over at her blankly as he added, "Before I always had you."

A silence passed between the two of them then, a shared one, but when Haven looked poised to ruin it, Ravan found he couldn't let her.

So he did instead.

"Why," he asked softly then, turning his head to look back up at the bright, blue sky, "do you love Locke?"

Haven frowned then, not prepared for this, and instead of answering, only countered, "Why do you hate him?"

And, for some reason, Ravan had an answered prepped for this very question. Perhaps he always had and had just been waiting forever for someone to finally ask him.

"Because he has a dad. Who wanted to teach him a bad ass magic. But then he chose something shitty instead and bitched constantly because his dad was disappointed in him." Ravan tossed an arm over his eyes then, not trusting himself to glance over at her. "Because he could talk to girls. Easily. And get them to laugh. And not think that he was a creep. Because they'd think he was cute even though he's fucking not and people thought he was so funny, but he's just dumb. Because Kai thought that he was so great and Marin likes him so much, even though I spend way more time with them and they should like me way more than him. Because his mom is always so nice to him and would pack him lunches, when we'd go out training, and was always there, when we got back from jobs, to ask him how it was, instead of just standing around and making snide remarks because he wasn't as sweet or thoughtful as everyone else. Because…you liked him. Always. More than me. And I have always just been second best to him and… Because if I had all those things then...then I could be just as good as him."

Ravan dropped his arm, after his final sentence, before finally glancing at Haven. Softly, he prompted, "Your turn."

She made a face at him before shrugging and looking off.

"I don't know," she admitted softly, but when she noted, his eye roll, she only insisted, "I don't. I don't… Ever since I was a little kid, he's always just been there. Like Navi, I guess, or you, kind of, but Locke's always cared about me. Really cared about me. And looked out for me. He's just always been my best friend. More than normal people say that word. There's literally always been nothing in the world that would ever make him turn on me. Or me him. And then, when we got older, I just…

"One day, I just realized that… I don't...feel things, sometimes. Like normal people. But when I'm with Locke, it doesn't matter. If I say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing, he just grins or sometimes complains at me, but he wants the best for me, for us, and it didn't matter when I was a horrible person, because fuck, I was a horrible person, but he always knew that I could get better. That I would get better. And he's waited for me. Whether we get there as friends or more, he's just always waited for me and wanted me, no matter what, and that just...means everything to me."

She looked down then, Haven did, to glance at her pendant, holding up the blue gem tightly before saying, "One day, you're gonna find someone who makes you feel the same way. Not someone who makes you feel like shit all the time, like I do, except for the rarest moments, but someone who actually cares about you and you care about too and you're not going to fight, constantly, and even when you do, it's not going to bring you to your lowest, because you know that you're...okay. No matter what. The two of you. I was...never going to always be there for you, Ravan. No matter what happened during or after the gauntlet. Or at any other point. And admit it; you've only ever been into me for stupid reasons. I'm actually a really horrible person."

"You're right." He glaned at her again. "Never did. You're a piece of shit."

"Yeah, and so are you, asshole."

"Haven-"

"It'dda ended horribly." She was looking up at the sky then, with a frown. "If we didn't go to that last monster. Just fucked outta there, together. We'd have ended up hating one another."

"How's that different from now?"

"I don't hate you, Ravan." Eyes falling, she stared straight into his, one still blackened from her spell. "And I haven't in a long time. I wouldn't take you all the way out here to kill you if I hated you; I'd legitimately just kill you." Then she frowned. "Or I would have. I'm a better person now, you know."

"Yeah. I think I've heard."

"It's because of you that I thought of it. You know. Going to Bosco. And that Erza even thought to offer me a chance to help with the resistance." That time, finally, really, her smile felt slightly wry, with just the right amount of irony that he knew, he was sure, it belonged to her, the one he knew, regardless of time or space. "And it's because I died that you're doing what you love now, right? That you finally left the dumb guild behind? So, I guess we really are even, aren't we? Everything in our lives is going to turn out alright, because of one another. That must count for something, huh?"

He sniffled some, Ravan did, maybe allergies, maybe injury, or maybe something else, but after doing so, he whispered softly, "I'm sorry, Haven. For leaving you there. For even mentioning the dumb gauntlet to you. I was being selfish, the whole time, trying to trick you into…into...being with me. I'm sorry for bugging out on you, after we… I'm sorry for getting all weird or...creepy and… I'm just sorry. I guess. For everything."

The sun felt warm now, and she still had a bit more patching up to do, Haven did, so she stood, but not before insisting simply to him, "I'm not."

It would take awhile before either of them were ready to head out. They were both weak and sore, having used up too much of their magic at once, far too early in the day, and the hike back to the train station no longer looked so simple and easy. Still, they had to leave eventually and waiting a day was out, for a good number of reasons, but mostly because they'd only be even more sore the longer they gave their bodies to adjust.

Haven stood though, suddenly, as they were nearly out of the forest, and stopped to look behind them, where they could just barely see the fortress in the distance, looking much more regal and fearsome when only given a small portion of the picture.

"Yeah," she sighed softly, having changed back into the hoodie and with the sunglasses hiding her fucked up eye. "I shouldda torched that place."

Ravan was hiding behind his bandanna, muffling his speech as he said, "Nah. Now you can always go back and loot. When you need to."

"Yeah." She agreed for once, rather than calling him a name or spawning an argument. Turning her back once more, she started walking again. "If I ever need to."

They were both battered and broken when they reached a city, and thought they looked awful, still ventured to find some food, some actual food, before trudging in silence to the nearest train station.

Haven though that they'd be going back to Kai's place together, but it was only once they got there and were looking over board times that Ravan told her to send his regards.

"They're gonna think that I did something to you, out here, all alone," she pointed out and he didn't feel like explain she had. Far too much, in fact.

"I just need to get back. There's no reason for me to go all the way to the coast if I'm headed the other way." Ravan looked off then with a sigh, because it was hard to have a conversation in a busy station. At least when you were so inclined to muttering. "Tell Kai and Marin that I'm sorry, but it's work. They'll understand. Both of them, now."

Haven really wanted him to go with her, but he'd already done so much (and gone through it as well) for her benefit, that she found it difficult to force the issue. But as her train would be arriving soon, before his, she found that she had to get any more of it out, whatever she could, because whatever she didn't might hang over them for a year or two and, as someone who'd already lost so much time, she knew how precious it was, especially once wasted.

It shocked Ravan though, who'd had a pretty shocking day over all, but when Haven, after being silent for so long, suddenly launched herself at him, he nearly fell over.

Hugging him tightly, Haven insisted, as she closed her eyes, "When I get back...no matter how long it's been… I'm going to find you. And we're going to talk about all the shit we've done since we last saw one another. So you better actually be fucking doing something important, alright? 'cause you'll look pretty fucking lame if you don't."

He'd been confused, at first, by her gesture (hugs weren't something Haven just threw out...it might be the first one he'd ever gotten from the girl, literally ever), but slowly, at first, he patted at her back before also relaxing some and clinging to her as well.

"Just watch out for yourself," he insisted as, slowly, they parted, and it was hard to look one another in the eyes, but both forced themselves to do so. "Haven. And...watch out for your dumb boyfriend too. He's really trusting and stupid and… You should just both be careful. I wanna actually see you, when you get back. Not just hear about all the good things you died trying to accomplish."

The train would arrive not soon after that, and Haven didn't realize how hard it would, to say, as a lump rose in her throat, and she couldn't imagine how much more difficult it would be, when she was forced to do it with everyone else in the coming weeks.

"Goodbye," she told him, raising her hand a bit, as if to wave, even though he was still right in front of her. "Ravan."

He raised his own, but it was to tug down his bandanna, and he felt it too, in his throat, but forced himself watch as she turned to walk away, calling out softly, "Goodbye, Haven."

And it had been so weird, everything had been so weird, for the past few days, especially since he woke up that morning, and then she was gone, gone for good, maybe, possibly, and he was more thankful than he thought he would be, for the burning in his chest and the bruises forming over his body, because at least he could be certain, as he got on his own train not long after, that it had happened. That she had happened.

And that it had ended.

For now.

It was evening by the time Haven arrived back in Kai's sleepy, coastal town, and Haven only rolled her eyes, from behind her sunglasses, when upon arriving at his home, her sister and the man seemed concerned over her appearance.

"You should see," she joked weakly, as Lance, who was around the house also, thanked everything he'd convinced Kai to get out of that crazy guild, "the other guy."

"Are we not going to?" Marin asked with a frown.

"He had to head out," Haven remarked simply as Kai got her a med kit from the bathroom, but seemed wholly disappointed his brother hadn't come back around.

"Well," he offered thoughtfully. "'least you guys had a good time, right? Beating up some random guy?"

"Something like that," Haven agreed as Marin still eyed her suspiciously. "Yeah."

Kai insisted they stay another night and Haven obliged (mostly because she was feeling rather weak after all it had taken to arrive back there), falling back into the couch as Lance and Kai left to go scrounge up some dinner for everyone.

Slowly, Marin came to join her sister on the couch, who was sitting with her eyes closed, sunglasses still hiding them from the world.

"Did you and Ravan," her younger sister asked eventually while Haven only gave the slightest notion of listening, "do what you set out to? Haven?"

"Yeah, actually, we did. Everything."

"And...you're going to tell Locke about all of it, right?"

"Yeah, sure."

"All of it?"

And Haven sat up then, at first reaching to remove her glasses, but then catching herself before just crossly questioning, "What are you getting at, Marin?"

But she was far too bashful to admit her knowledge in the matter and only blushed before saying, "I just… I like Locke and I don't want him to get upset with you or for you guys to fight or-"

"Locke and I will always fight." Sitting back again, she sounded unconcerned as she said, "But we'll always make up. He's kind of in love with me, if you didn't notice."

"And you love him too, right? And wouldn't do anything that might ruin that or hurt him or-"

"Are you okay, Marin? Or- Oh, I get it." Haven sneered some before saying, "You got stuck here, seeing how in love Kai is and shit. Between that and seeing how awesome my relationship is-"

"I really don't-"

"-you're just a little jealous, huh?" Haven snickered. "Or feel like you're missing out?"

"N-No, it's not-"

"Don't worry. You're not." Haven reached up to toy with her necklace before insisting, "Being in love sucks. I mean, it's the best thing in the world and Locke means everything to me, but just consider yourself lucky, huh? I know I make this relationship thing seem super easy and rewarding, but it's a lot of work."

Deflating some, Marin only said, "As long as you got everything you wanted-"

"I did." Reaching over, she tossed an arm around her sister, who froze up at this, but Haven only grinned as she shut her eyes once more. "I really did."


	5. Chapter 5

Morning had escaped into mid-afternoon and Magnolia looked much as it had only a few days prior, when the two sister's had departed the same way they now arrived. Marin had been rather down when they set out, before the dawn, that morning as it was rather clear though she still felt called to her guildhall, another, equal part of her heart stayed entwined with Kai, who sniffled and rubbed at his eyes when they parted.

"I won't lie to you," he assured her through tears, "next time I wanna see you, but you gotta promise to come more, okay? Lacrimas aren't enough! I get lonely..."

Marin promised him as much, forgiving him completely while Haven stood by, not rolling her eyes for once at the display. Instead, after Marin and the teen parted, she came to knock Kai gently in the head. As he whined, startled and confused, she only looked him in the eyes.

"Take care of my sister while I'm gone, moron," she ordered as he sulked, rubbing at where she'd tapped. Then, with something of a bored sigh, she added, "And don't get, like, get eaten by a whale or whatever it is you hunt while I'm gone."

"I'm literally a fisherman and you know that," he griped, annoyed still by being hit. "And you don't even know if Locke made S-Class yet or not."

But oh, she did.

Or she seemed to, giddy and gleeful in her own, slight ways as the two sisters journeyed back home together. Marin wished to fall back asleep, but her motionsickness wouldn't allow it. She thought though that her sister would partake in the action, given she'd griped a bit at the early hour when they first awoke, but she stayed awake the whole time, toying with her necklace and, when noting her sister's unease, making slight conversation or jokes to at least somewhat help pass the time.

It felt...really nice.

To be together.

Like this.

And though her stomach mostly flipped from the motion of the rattling train, the slight sway of her heart did little to help when Marin realized that now, finally, just as she was getting the sister she'd always wanted, the version of Haven she'd been denied for so long...her older sister was going to go away again.

When she rested her head against the blonde's shoulder, Haven frowned at first, questioning with clear disdain if she was about to barf, but when Marin shook her head, she relented and wrapped an arm around her once more, like she had the night before.

"Thank you," Marin managed to get out as she shut her eyes. "Haven. For coming with me."

She laughed at first, just a bit, Haven did, confused for a moment before giving in and assuring her sister, "Anytime."

Even though they were the closest they'd ever been in their life, literally, Marin found that she never felt so alone.

At the train station, as she regained her wits, Marin hardly had a chance to mention to her sister that she was headed home, to drop her stuff before going to see if she could catch a shift at the bar, before Haven was taking off, headed for that exact place and she knew.

Marin didn't know how she did, given they hadn't seen or spoken to anyone relating to Fairy Tail since they left, but somehow Haven was just complete certain of the outcome of the trials right then and there, before even being keyed in on their conclusion.

It was almost the kind of psychic connection that could, say, creep a person out.

Still, it was a bright and sunny day, which explained away the sunglasses easily enough (though perhaps not the warm hoodie), which was just as well for Haven, because her magic still wasn't back enough for any transformations. Her eye still stung, of course, more of a burning really, and she was wincing some the closer she got to relief.

Haven smiled though, unable to help it, as their timing synced as perfectly as ever. Just as she crossed the Fairy Tail gates, he was ducking out of the guildhall, Locke was, wincing some himself as someone tried to drag him back in and it definitely sounded like there was a party going on inside, in the middle of the day.

And that definitely only meant one thing.

Well, in their guild it actually could mean a multitude, but still.

Locke's face lit up though, as he saw her rushing over towards him now and he laughed some, as she fell into him. Wrapping his arms around Haven, he started to say something along the lines of, "Hey, I've been waiting for you. I got-"

"I know." She titled her head back then to grin up at him. "Of course you did."

He laughed then, nodding his head some as he said, "I just got in this morning. It's fucking crazy inside, but I've just been waiting for you to get here so we can-"

"I wanna be alone too," she finished for him with a nod and he was snickering then, looking passed her and across the grounds, where some other people were coming in and calling out congrats to him. As he waved, Haven didn't even notice as she said, "I wanna hear everything. And I have some things to tell you too."

When Locke looked back down at her, it was with less excitement and love as he finally noticed a few things.

"Did you take shit from my bag?" he griped, just a bit, as he moved to snatch the sunglasses off her face. Haven tried to stop this, but Locke was too fast and then he was staring with wide eyes down at her marred one.

They stared at one another for a long few seconds there, both daring the other to say what they were thinking, and, as always, Haven couldn't hold her tongue for long.

"I said," she chided before he could, "that I have some things to tell you."

Locke couldn't help it.

He laughed again, too joyful for much else, and none of it mattered now. At all. After battling it out for years, doubting himself and taking the brunt of snide remarks over his powers, he'd more than proven himself. The first of the slayer kids. Of the new generation. He was more than just the last one standing; he was the best of any who ever had.

"Of course you do," he said as he brought a hand up to Haven's blackened eye, bowing his own head with little care (it helped that he was also, you know, already kinda drunk from his early start at partying), and she nuzzled up into his forehead when he rested it over hers. "Haven."

"But I wanna hear about you first." She shoved his back when the spell was complete and her vision wasn't so blurry. She also snagged the sunglasses once more, but nestled them in her blonde locks as the man smiled down at her. "Everything you did."

He brushed a hand over her cheek, a magic circle at his finger tips, healing a scrape with little concern as he said, "I gotta go back inside at least, for a second. I told them I would only be a minute-"

"Fuck 'em." She even shrugged. "You're S-Class now, Locke. Who the fuck can tell you anything?"

Her.

And she was telling him to follow her back to the apartment.

How could he refuse?

Especially when she was already taking his hand and leading the way?

It felt like a dream, the whole time everything had, but especially now as they practically floated back to the apartment, he felt, and he kissed her. The second the door shut behind them, no longer able to wait or thing or do anything, other than lead her back over to the couch, but Haven only turned her head with a laugh.

"I was serious," she insisted and there was a heavy glint in her eyes. "I want to hear everything, Locke. _Everything."_

So he fell into the couch, alone, ready to deliver in this, but as the words were forming on his tongue, Haven chose then to pull the hoodie over her head and Locke saw the extent of her injuries.

"What," he questioned, actually truly annoyed now, yeah, "did you do?"

Caught now, she told him honestly, "I almost killed your mortal enemy. If it makes you feel any better."

It didn't.

Any hype Locke felt over his own accomplishment disappeared as, sobering very quickly, he rose once more to go study her wounds more closely. Though he'd exhausted his own magic, out on Tenrou, he only began to unwind the gauze over her arm while ordering, "Spill it."

She frowned some, as he was anything but gentle now, before saying, "Well, for starters, Kai and his dumb boyfriend are solid, in case you're worried."

"I'm," he told her hotly, "not."

"Ravan's well too."

"Haven-"

"I mean, he was, before I summoned Raijin's powers and combined it with my demonic magic and absolutely wrecked him." Then she frowned. "And he kinda cut me open." Haven winced when, with no warning, he began to magically seal back up her clotted wounds, a dark gaze in his eyes. Continuing on, she added, "We worked through all our issues though and we're friends again."

"Super."

"Locke-"

"I can't fucking believe you-"

"I had to do this, okay?"

"You had to go see your ex?"

"He's not my...ex anything." She sounded grossed out by the idea. "He's someone who I slept with all of one time. You're still friends with women you dated when I was gone. And I don't say anything-"

"You say," he interrupted, "plenty."

"I say what needs to be said," she corrected. "And I said what needed to be said to Ravan too. He left me, when I was fucking dying, and I had to return the favor."

"That's why you went to see him?" Locke didn't know why this annoyed him further. "That was your unfinished business? Not that the two of you had hooked up, but that-"

"Sex is sex," Haven assured him, "but running out on a job? A mission? Leaving someone, the most important person to ever live, literally ever, behind? That's inexcusable. The little coward. He deserved everything I handed out to him."

He groaned too, Locke did, and this time when his head fell against the side of hers, it was in defeat as he softly said, "You're fucking insane."

"I'm chosen," she corrected. Just as quickly though, she was moving to lift up her shirt some as she remarked, "Can you look at this? I tossed one of your potions over it, but it was pretty gnarly before and I don't wanna, like, get an infection or-"

"Haven," he groaned making the woman look at him curiously. "Why do you do these things?"

"I had to test my powers, Locke. And put Ravan back in his place. Before we go away." Just tugging her shirt fully over her head, she said, "I told you to take care of your end of things and you did. So did I." Then, snickering victoriously as Locke got on his knees to better examine the wound, she added, "Between what I did out there, all my powers connecting, and having an S-Class medic on my side, there's literally nothing that can stop me."

"I," he complained, waiving a hand over her stomach, causing the blonde to wince and recoil as whatever magic he was expelling stung her to her core, "can stop you."

Haven didn't deny this as she took advantage of their positioning, reaching down to gently shove some of his hair back. Making a face at the texture, she remarked, "You need to wash your hair."

"Do I?"

"Someone does."

Finally, his grin was reclaimed, letting a long breath out which tickled her scarred, taut stomach as he said, "We do gotta go to my parents. Tonight. Family dinner. I should look nice."

"We?"

"Haven-"

"I do have something I need your mom's help with."

And Locke narrowed his eyes as he rose once more, finished doctoring her up for the moment it seemed as, at his full height, he only stared down at her while one of his thumbs brushed her cheek. Tone still rather harsh, he said, "What exactly did you meet up with Ravan for in the first place?"

"Why can't it just be revenge?"

"Revenge," he remarked with a frown, "doesn't sound like something a good person goes around doling out."

"I'm allowed my stumbles."

"Haven-"

"I'll tell you all about it later." Reaching up to grab his wrist, she turned to tug him off into the bathroom, still only in jeans and her bra. "After you let me do something about your hair. And tell me everything about the trials. I mean it, Locke. I need to know everything. How else will I know which S-Class wizard I wanna take with me to Bosco? Unless I know every detail about them?"

"Your mom and dad gonna get this kinda questioning?"

"Well...I'm a biased judge." The second they were in the bathroom, she turned to face him. After releasing his wrist, she moved instead to wrap her arms around his neck. "You'll probably win regardless."

"We have to keep up appearances though," he offered with a sigh.

"Locke?"

"What?"

And her eyes looked so bright then, all healed up, even in the shitty lightning of their bathroom.

"You trust me," she asked softly, "don't you?"

There was no play now, there couldn't be, as he merely nodded and agreed, "With my life."

Haven had to look away now, as it was all too much at once, and she could only stay this way for so long. As she turned instead to stare into the mirror, examining her healed eye herself now, she only questioned his reflection as he loomed behind her, "With your hair?"

"The only one," he assured her and it was strange, how attached you could grow to something so quickly. But as he sank into the tub, he felt like Haven had always been this open with him, this honest, and as he told her all about the trials, every minute detail, it only shocked him slightly how well she was able to listen now. No interjections.

No.

Not the first time around.

She'd have plenty of them though, that night over at his parents house, where she and Gajeel battled it out to see who could equally be the most obnoxious about his accomplishment as well as take the most credit.

"I'm so proud of you," Levy offered him, not for the first time, but the first second they had alone that night as he helped her clean up a bit, in the kitchen, while Haven and Gajeel picked at one another in the living room with Pantherlily there to stop any physicality. "Really, Locke. I am."

He blushed some at this, ducking down some over by the sink, where he was scrubbing at a plate. When his mother came by to drop another in the soapy suds, she paused for a second to reach over at pat at his cheek, forcing him to look her in the eyes.

"I don't know what we're going to do, Locke," she admitted to him softly. "When you're gone."

"Mom, we don't gotta worry about that tonight," he insisted, and she knew, of course she did, but it didn't stop the concern over the coming days.

Haven had a solution though, for the trepidation his parents were going to experience that night, both of them, when it really begin to set in that their son wasn't just going to be gone on longer jobs now, but across the country, if not on another continent, with no guarantee of when he'd return.

If ever.

The night was winding down, and Gajeel and Haven had long decided that it was perhaps a joint accomplishment, between the two of them, that Locke had become S-Class, and he was fine with this, Locke was, as his girlfriend rested against him on the couch and his parents sat opposite them, in his father's old recliner.

"I almost forgot." Haven rose for a moment, to go over to her pack, which she'd brought with her that evening. Locke had questioned her on it, but she'd only changed the subject in that moment, but she came bearing it now, to dump whatever contents she hadn't pulled out of it before arriving onto the table. As Gajeel made a face at the papers that tumbled forth and poor Pantherlily thought of the mess clean up, Levy and Locke both were quick to single in on different things.

"Is this some kind of medical report?" Locke asked, snatching up some of the papers.

"And what is this writing?" Levy had keyed in immediately on the container, staring down at it with a frown before looking stricken as she looked to her son's girlfriend. "Haven, is this-"

"The two of you can decipher this stuff for me, right?" she asked simply. "I found it in the lab where I was resurrected."

"You what?" Locke complained as Lily only snickered into his paws.

"It is quite impressive," the Exceed assured the blonde, "the speed as which you chose to divulge information."

But it would give Levy something to occupy her mind in the coming days while also at the very least keeping Locke busy for a few hours as he stayed over at his parents home, no longer celebrating and now hoping to get closer to finding exactly what spell it was that Ivan infused his girlfriend with in the first place.

This made it easy for Haven to make mention of needing to get some air and escape into the night, snagging from her sack the one thing that would be of no interest to any of the others gathered about.

No.

But there was another house where it would mean much more to.

She was kind of surprised, maybe, to see all the lights still on at her parents house. Haven kinda planned on knocking, finding them asleep, and just taking off, giving herself some special points for just trying, but no. They were very much so up. And she didn't knock, trying the door instead to find it unlocked.

Both her parents were in the kitchen, eating a late meal with Marin, it seemed, who'd come by to make up for missing out on their typical, every other day schedule. She'd brought them dinner plates from the hall it seemed, and they all seemed to be having such a nice time before she showed up and it was rare. For Haven to feel regret. Or remorse. Or nervous, even, really. But she felt out of place now, as at the sound of the front door opening, her mother rushed to see who it was.

Mirajane only smiled though, of course, in welcoming, and rushed to hug her oldest before dragging her into the kitchen as well.

"Marin," her mother was saying, gesturing to her youngest now, "was telling us about your...excursion. Together."

About how Haven lied. To her younger sister. And tricked Kai into doing the same.

Laxus was not, at all, finding it amusing.

But what could he do? What could he say? There was a time when his inability to apply correction or critique Haven's lifestyle stemmed from him drowning his own in booze, but now stone-cold sober, he was hamstrung not by his own lack of desire, but rather an inability to broach any subject with her at all. Even praise, what used to be music to the blonde's ears, now risked him being shut out once more, abandoned, and no longer allowed even a window into his oldest's life. While he admitted, and wanted to pay for, all of the wrongs he'd committed against her, Haven seemed to be offering him no path to redemption and expected him to be pleased with being a mere onlooker.

Which is what he planned on being that night, as he bit his tongue when he noted how subdued Marin became, just from the presence of her daughter.

"Yeah," Haven was sighing to her mother, making a bit of a face as she held something in her hands, some sort of book, it seemed like. "It was, uh, fun."

"Where's Locke?" Marin asked softly then, looking passed her sister, as if expecting him to come in. Then her face got dark as she asked, "You two didn't...fight, did you?"

"Why would they fight?" Mirajane giggled some, sounding much younger than she truly was as she reminded those gathered around, "He's S-Class now. What could be better?"

Yeah.

What?

"He's with his parents," Haven explained then with a shrug. "We ate dinner over there."

"Well, you're still welcomed to join us," her mother offered as, removing the arm she had wrapped around her daughter, she went to reclaim her spot at the table. "If you're hungry."

Shaking her head some, Havne did approach the table though as she said, "Marin, uh, probably didn't know to tell you guys, but, uh, I…"

It was rare to see their daughter so lost for words and, as Mirajane eyed her in concern, Laxus' only fell to the book in her hands, staring curiously at it.

"I wanted to...drop this off," Haven finally got out as, coming closer, she moved to set it on the table. But not in the center or towards either her mother or sister. No. It was very purposeful, it seemed, when she placed it directly before her father. "I went to the lab where Ivan… I got this. For you. While I was there. So here. Laxus."

They were all confused then, perhaps Laxus most of all, but still, he moved to drag the thick book closer and it was only after he opened the cover that he realized what it was.

"I looked for something, anything, to bring back from there. I kinda thought maybe one day I'd go back and torch it," Haven went on, off-handed and with a shrug, "but I dunno. Sometimes it's better, having the option to go back and- Hey, fuck off!"

Laxus had sprang up, the second he realized what it was, and moved with speed he didn't realize he possessed anymore to grab his daughter. But not out of hostility. It was intended to be a hug, more than likely, but Haven didn't know that motion from her father.

At all.

So she reacted by shoving him away and Mirajane and Marin both got to their feet as well, tense and confused, while Laxus only sunk back into his chair with a sour look on his face.

"I'm...sorry," Laxus grumbled softly, wounded, though not physically, as his oldest turned away from him. "Haven. I was just-"

"Just because I gave you something doesn't mean you get to touch me," she retorted and, slowly, both her sister and mother sat back down as well though they stayed on edge. Not looking at any of them now, Haven headed for the backdoor. "I gotta go."

"Oh, Haven, no," her mother tried. "Don't you wan to-"

"Locke just became S-Class," was all her daughter retorted over her shoulder as she left. "Do you really think I'm going to spend the night with someone other than him?"

Still, she lingered for a moment longer before adding, "But it's not like we're going to just take off in the middle of the night. I'll still be around for a bit. I'll...see you all later."

As Mirajane looked after her daughter though, having felt the same longing Levy was gearing up to feel for far longer, Marin turned to look at her father, leaning over the table to look at what her sister had given him.

"What is it? Dad?"

"It's a...photo album," he whispered softly. Once Haven disappeared, he'd only turned back to it, slowly flicking to another page. "From when I was a kid. It must have been my mother's. I don't know how Haven thought to look for it though."

"It is?" Suddenly, Mirajane was animated again. Springing up, she came to stand at her husband's side. "Ooh, dragon, let me see."

"Maybe she just stumbled upon it," Marin suggested though her eyes too were glued to the pages as her mother gushed over each and every precious photo.

"Maybe," Laxus agreed as he found his eyes drifting more to the backdoor, hoping against hope for more than what he'd already been treated with. "Maybe."

But Haven didn't want to look over the pages. She didn't need to. She'd heard all about them, only a year or so ago, as she laid in suspended slumber, from her crazed grandfather, on the rare days he wasn't raving about how he wanted her to raze cities to the ground to find his lacrimas and instead sounded softer, more thoughtful, as he recalled the wife he could just about see, if only he deluded himself further, when he stared down into the resting face of his granddaughter.

That was Laxus' baggage though, Haven convinced herself after ditching it on the man, and when she came to collect Locke from his parents' place, she wanted to hear nothing else about it.

"Tell me again," she requested that night as they cracked open beers together, alone, in their dark apartment, the hour far too late, "about the part where you...where you… Just tell it to me all. Again."

"Please?" he pressured, sitting there with her, on the floor, before the couch, but when Haven shoved at his face some, he only laughed.

"Don't push it," she ordered and their night was only just beginning, it felt like.

It had gone on for far too long though, when Haven awoke with foggy memories and recollections of the night before. They'd made it to bed though, at least, and that was all good and well, but he was dreaming away his first real day as S-Class, head resting against Haven's stomach, snoring softly.

She couldn't allow that for long.

They bickered a bit, the good kind, as they stumbled over one another that morning. The clock was pushing closer to noon though and it was far past it when they arrived at the hall, Haven's (Locke's) sunglasses now hiding something closer to a wicked hangover.

"Haven! And Locke! When are you guys gonna take me on my first S-Class job, huh?"

She groaned too, while Locke tried not to act annoyed when the second they walked into the hall that day the returned Ajax, home from another victorious job, came to try and pounce his cousin who only shoved him to the ground in kind.

Laughing happily from the ground, eh stared up at her with bright eyes as he questioned, "So when, huh?"

"Never," Haven retorted, but there was no time for his whining as it seemed their late arrival was noted by another.

Erza had been surprised, slightly, to find Marin returned so soon from her trip down to the coast when she walked in early that morning, but was also pleased. She'd stayed away from the hall the night before, to let the guild celebrate without the looming threat of the Master, but returned now, she imagined quite the cleanup was to be had. The teen was hard at work, as always, and called out her standard greeting to the woman while still struggling to get the place in proper, opening order.

"I take it Kai was well when you saw him?" the woman asked and Marin nodded, recalling that Erza had never been keyed in on the trickery. And good thing; she wouldn't have taken kindly to it.

"Ravan too," she thought she heard Marin add, but surely not.

Surely.

Erza had much on her mind though and only disappeared into her office for most of the morning. In fact, she'd only just emerged when Haven and Locke arrived to, apparently, crush poor Ajax' dreams.

She called out to them, both of them, and it didn't help, her now being their master, the immense fear the swordswoman had always struck in both Locke and Haven.

They approached her all the same, the eyes of their fellow guildmates following them as they approached, but Erza only suggested they step outside.

"I used to like to come out here," she remarked as they followed her across the guild grounds, "to ensure Kai was at the very least tending to this portion of his job, but now-"

"Are you going to give us the location? Of the group?" Haven ignored Locke's glare as she just kept her eyes on her master. "And tell them that we're coming?"

"In the coming days, yes, of course," Erza remarked and Haven hardly heard anything else as she felt it then, that elation Ajax did constantly. The kind that made you wanna jump all about, tossing your arms in the air and launching yourself at the first person you saw. Still, the swordswoman did have more to say and was doing so then as she added, "But first, Locke, you must take an S-Class quest. To prove your worth. It is customary. Most with for it, even, to be the first thing they do upon arriving Of course, I suppose you have completed one in your past already-"

"I will, Master," he assured the woman with a quick nod. "I'll go find one right now."

"And Haven," Erza began, the name sounding odd on her tongue, as it always did.

The blonde stopped her internal celebration as the Master came to a stop all together. They stood there then, the three of them, on the grounds, and it wasn't so long ago, really, that they had before.

"You are truly prepared for this, yes?" Erza questioned, hands behind her back and armor gleaming in the sunlight. "I will be sending you both under the order of Fairy Tail. You will be meant to represent it and all it stands for. The two of you will be the first representatives of the guild for many. What it means, what it stands for. I say all of this only to be assured that you are…prepared to shoulder this responsibility? And bear the association?"

Haven could feel the eyes of both the swordswoman and her boyfriend then, but she didn't meet them. Not at first. Instead, she turned, looking not towards the guildhall towering before them, but instead the wrought iron fence that in cased the property, the gate adorned with the insignia that she now wore across her chest.

"Yeah," she assured the woman as Locke let out a sigh of relief and Erza, for possibly the first time, looked on the oldest Dreyar daughter favorably. Raising her eyes to meet the Master's, Haven assured her, "I am."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It goes by so fast…
> 
> A one-shot next, in the coming days, to kinda tie this portion of things off.


End file.
